Musk mallow
Malva moschata · Malvaceae
Satiny, soft pink or white flowers, like small hollyhocks, on a bushy plant with finely cut leaves, through the summer.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late June to late August
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around musk mallow
The planner designed this bed around musk mallow when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why musk mallow stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Musk mallow × 3, pink
- 2 Candytuft × 3, white
- 3 Winter heath × 4, purple
- 4 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 3, blue
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry' × 8, pink
- 7 Sicilian honey garlic × 6, cream
- 8 Surprise lily × 7, pink
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are dense clusters, bells, airy sprays and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- At the back. At 2½ ft it is seen over coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry' (22 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to Sicilian honey garlic (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From late June to late August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' and coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry' in late June: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as a cottage garden: 22 of the 22 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. The back corners are held by Sicilian honey garlic and Italian bugloss 'Dropmore', the tallest plants on the plan. Pink is the colour seen most, on 3 of the 7 kinds grown for their flowers.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 3 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where musk mallow goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A generous, easy cottage plant. It is short-lived but seeds itself, and has naturalised along roadsides in the Northeast. The white form is especially good.
- Cottage borders
- Dry, sunny banks
- Cutting
What to plant with musk mallow
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for nine weeks, from late June.
- Shasta daisy 'Becky': in flower together for eight weeks, from early July.
- Lamb's ear: its silver leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (12 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about musk mallow
Does musk mallow need sun or shade?
Musk mallow grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does musk mallow grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does musk mallow flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to late August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Early July to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early July to late August |
| Zone 5 | Late June to late August |
| Zone 6 | Late June to late August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid August |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should musk mallow be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (75 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many musk mallow plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is musk mallow poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like musk mallow?
Musk mallow comes from Europe south to North Africa. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Slender mountain mint: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; white, not pink.
- Yarrow: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 6 in shorter, wants dry soil.
- Purple coneflower: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 6 in taller, medium leaves, not fine.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat musk mallow?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
Will musk mallow spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Short-lived, and self-seeds freely in open soil. Deadhead it to limit seedlings.
What flowers after musk mallow?
Musk mallow is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall.
What does musk mallow look like in winter?
Musk mallow dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is musk mallow good for bees and butterflies?
Musk mallow is visited by bees and butterflies.
More Malva
- Hollyhock mallow Malva alcea 'Fastigiata'
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (75 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to late August; open bowls; pink, white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Comes from
- Europe south to North Africa
- Attracts
- Bees, butterflies
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.