Bee-friendly wildflowers: the wild mallow

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The wild mallow is a real all-rounder. It has been used as a medicinal plant for thousands of years, and thanks to its pleasant taste, the mallow often ends up in the cooking pot (or rather, in the salad bowl). On top of that, Malva sylvestris – the botanical name of the wild mallow – is a beautiful perennial bloom in the garden and nourishes wild bees and other insects with its sweet nectar.

Name Wild mallow
Scientific name Malva sylvestris
Family Mallow family (Malvaceae)
Order Malvales (Malvales)

Wild mallow: location and care for the bee-friendly perennial bloomer

The wild mallow likes it warm, sunny and sheltered from the wind. As soon as these three factors are met, its veined flowers can hardly be stopped. If you don't have a garden on a south-facing slope, wild mallow can also be planted in a container. The soil should never be too wet, as the wild mallow tolerates drought well. The wild mallow does not like shady locations at all, which is why it does not produce flowers without sunlight. Unlike other wildflowers, mallow likes nutrient-rich soil. To keep your mallow flowering into the autumn, you can fertilize it from time to time with a little organic fertilizer.

If you place the wild mallow in a sunny spot, don't overwater it and fertilize it from time to time, you will be rewarded with colourful flowers from May to October. If it doesn't get too cold in winter, the wild mallow usually survives for two years.

Wild mallow as a medicinal plant: popular with humans and wild bees

The wild mallow has been used by humans as a medicinal plant for thousands of years. The reason for this is the mucilage it contains. Although this might sound unpleasant at first, these mucilages are actually quite beneficial for humans as they contain healthy flavonoids and sugar molecules. When we eat the leaves and flowers of the wild mallow, these mucilages coat and protect our mucous membranes in the mouth and throat. The wild mallow also exerts its healing effect in the digestive tract and has a calming effect. Especially in the case of colds, coughs, or stomach pains, the wild mallow can provide natural relief.

Bees, wild bees, and other insects also love the wild mallow. Since it blooms for such a long time, wild bees can gather a lot of nectar and feed their offspring. Some endangered pollen specialists are specialized on the wild mallow – yet another reason to plant wild mallow in your garden.

Wild mallow identification guide: how to recognize the bee-friendly medicinal plant

The wild mallow originally comes from southern Europe and Asia, but is now also a native plant in Central Europe. You have probably already discovered it along roadsides, along fences or on fallow land. In ideal conditions, the wild mallow grows upright up to 125 centimetres; in less good conditions, the mallow grows to around 30 centimetres.

Bienenfreundliche Wildblumen: Die Wilde Malve
Bienenfreundliche Wildblumen: Die Wilde Malve

The medicinal herb forms five petals per flower, the color of which ranges from purple to pink-violet. There are usually two to four flowers together, each with a diameter of 2 to 5 centimetres and arranged radially symmetrically. The leaves of the wild mallow are between 2 and 4 centimetres long and 2 to 5 centimetres wide. Another distinguishing feature is the pubescence on the ivy-like leaves.

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