Jess Cole
Coastal Mallow, Kosteletzkya pentacarpos
Coastal Mallow, Kosteletzkya pentacarpos
This is my favorite of all native mallows and one of my most adored, grown, and planted perennials. It’s beyond resilient, growing fast and tall and reseeding readily. Coastal mallow can grow up to eight feet in height and four feet wide. She boasts an enormous profusion of dainty pink blooms that remind me of hollyhocks and bring in an abundance of pollinators, including hummingbirds. These precious blooms offer endless ecological benefit throughout the day and then “fall asleep” at dusk, closing their flowers to rest. I use this plant in groupings of at least three at the back of a perennial bed or at the center of a giant bed with other plants tapering down and surrounding each side. I often plant coastal mallow with other perennials that bloom pink, white, and purple such as salvias, echinacea, vervain, and bee balm. This plant is incredibly dear to my heart as it links me to my love affair with the marsh. My favorite place to visit the mallows is when crabbing on Pecan Island and the I-10 Laplace exit ditches—there's nothing like jumping off the interstate into crawfish fields, with these blooms en masse, to signal its time to fish on the coast.
