Sida hermaphrodita

The Sida hermaphrodita is a wild plant from the North American flora that deserves to be better known and planted. Especially in a garden that leaves room for nature, for its beautiful appearance of a giant and its long white flowering as soft as silk, extremely honey-producing and nectar-producing. This great cousin of the mallow will live for many years in the garden, reforming its beautiful vegetation every spring with its palmate foliage and clusters of small buzzing flowers that can be admired all summer at eye level. Perfectly hardy, it is easy to grow in the sun in any good well-drained garden soil, even quite dry in summer. A plant to try out!

Sida hermaphrodita is a cold-resistant perennial herbaceous plant native to the southeastern United States and Canada. Its habitat consists of open, rather wet, sunny or semi-shaded river banks, with sandy, slightly acidic to neutral soil. However, the Virginia Mallow is relatively tolerant regarding soil, as evidenced by where it can sometimes appear.  

The plant grows from a rhizome that can spread laterally over time. Its vegetation forms in spring and disappears in winter. It is a very long-lived plant with a lifespan of around 20 years. At maturity, 4 or 5 years, it will produce up to 30 flower stems, 1.80 m (6ft) to over 2 m (7ft), with a spread of at least 60 cm (24in). These robust and thick stems can reach 2 cm (1in) in diameter bearing large entire but palmate leaves, with 3 to 7 lanceolate lobes, 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8in) long. The flowering is particularly long, from July to October-November, earlier or later depending on the region. The tall stems bear terminal clusters of numerous cup-shaped flowers, with 5 white petals, about 2 cm (1in) wide. The centre of each flower has pink to purplish stamens. The flowers attract pollinating insects and are followed by dry fruits containing lots of seeds that will germinate the following spring.

Virginia Mallow is ideal in natural areas, with other airy giants like Cephalaria gigantea, Aster laevis, Datisca cannabina or Thalictrum aquilegifolium for example. It also blends well with hybrid mulleins or 'thistles' (Cynara cardunculus, Onopordum nervosum...), tall perennial sunflowers, goldenrods and many others. Its silk-like flowers have a good vase life.

Sida hermaphrodita is native to North America and also cultivated in Europe, for example in Poland, where its fibres are used in the paper industry. Its foliage serves as fodder for livestock and beekeepers plant it to increase honey production. Recent studies have revealed that this plant is a good standing crop (like Miscanthus) to grow for alternative energy production.