How to Grow and Care for Sidalcea

Checker Bloom (Sidalcea malviflora) is a deciduous perennial plant that blooms in summer with lilac-pink flowers that have white veining. Pruning is recommended after flowering to encourage more blooms and prevent self-seeding. Grows best in full sun and well-drained soil. Stems and leaves are edible.

Oregon checkerbloom (Sidalcea oregana) is a member of the mallow family and is a native species of western North America. It thrives in wet environments such as freshwater marshes, damp forests, and swampy bogs. The larvae of the West Coast lady and many other butterfly species feast on this plant.

Waxy checkerbloom (Sidalcea glaucescens) is a member of the mallow family. It's indigenous to California in the U.S., where you’ll find it the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. Another name for it is waxy checkermallow.

Sidalcea campestris is a taprooted perennial herb that grows from thick, stubby rhizomes. It has a basal rosette of toothed leaves. Its stems are erect and hollow. The flowers are five-petaled and numerous, with typically fifty or more per plant, forming in branched racemes atop stems. The flowers range in color from white to pink.

Sidalcea candida the white checkerbloom prairie mallow or white checkermallow is a wildflower found from Nevada to Wyoming and south to the southern part of New Mexico. The plant grows to three feet and is also known as wild hollyhock. Its flowers are about one inch wide with five petals. It is found mostly in mountain meadows and along streams. It flowers between summer and fall.