Lavatera Barnsley Baby - Tree Mallow

Tree mallow ‘Barnsley Baby’ is a compact form of tree mallow, well suited to small gardens and growing in containers. Its rapid growth enables it to form an attractive, branched bush in one or two seasons. It remains considerably more modest in size than the renowned tree mallow ‘Barnsley’, while offering the same benefits in the garden: a long summer flowering period and an accommodating nature regarding soil.

Its accepted botanical name is Malva × clementii ‘Barnsley Baby’, although Lavatera × clementii ‘Barnsley Baby’ remains its most widely used horticultural name. This shrubby perennial belongs to the mallow family. Malva × clementii refers to a hybrid group resulting from Malva olbia and Malva thuringiaca. ‘Barnsley Baby’ was discovered in 1998 in a seedling grown from a tree mallow ‘Barnsley’, in Overslag, the Netherlands. It was selected by W. Karmelk and H. P. Lewis for its compact growth and the quality of its flowering. The plant develops a woody base from which numerous upright, branched stems emerge. Its slightly palmate, toothed leaves are covered with a fine down. They range from dark green to slightly greyish green depending on the light. The foliage is semi-evergreen in a coastal climate or in regions with mild winters, but disappears under the effect of harder frosts. Flowering extends from June to September and may continue into October when autumn remains mild. The 5 to 6 cm-diameter flowers, borne at the tips of the stems and in the leaf axils, have five broad, slightly notched petals. They are white or very pale pink, coloured at the base and along the veins in a deep pink to carmine pink. Unlike the flowers of ‘Barnsley’, those of its daughter ‘Barnsley Baby’ do not turn pinker as they age. This tree mallow is hardy down to –10 °C in well-drained soil and in a sheltered position.

This attractive variety ‘Barnsley Baby’ can be planted in a naturalistic border, a cottage garden, a small flowering hedge or a large pot. Its white and carmine-pink colouring combines easily with blue, mauve or soft-pink flowers. It can be surrounded by the tree mallow ‘Red Rum’, Caryopteris × clandonensis ‘Heavenly Blue’, Scabiosa columbaria ‘Pink Mist’, Eryngium planum ‘Blue Hobbit’ and Geranium sanguineum ‘Elke’. These shrubs and perennials create a flowering border for much of the summer, in a highly natural style.