Sidalcea Party Girl

Sidalcea 'Party Girl', also known simply as Sidalcea, is a particularly compact, resistant variety with a generous summer flowering and a charming countryside appeal! It is a tall perennial resembling a miniature hollyhock, with charming basal, shiny green lobed foliage. From July, very tall spikes of numerous light cups with fringed petals, in a lavender-pink colour punctuated with a white centre, emerge from its clump. Sidalceas are perfect perennials in an English or romantic cottage garden, placed in the background of flower beds with blue, white, and pink flowering perennials, as borders or even in pots around a terrace. They appreciate well-drained, rich, and moist soil and sunny to semi-shaded exposures. It is a perennial that can be short-lived and can behave like a biennial, reseeding well in cool soil.

Sidalcea 'Party Girl' belongs to the Malvaceae family along with hollyhocks and marshmallows. Its ancestors lived in meadows and clearings in the northwestern United States. This short-lived herbaceous perennial reaches maturity in 2 to 5 years and ensures its longevity through numerous spontaneous seedings. This horticultural variety stands out with its compact habit and excellent floribundance. It blooms between July and August, in the form of sturdy and unbranched stems reaching a height of 80 cm (32 in), bearing numerous small flowers with a diameter of 3 cm (1 in), resembling those of mallow, with 5 fringed petals that are silky-textured and veined. The basal foliage, which forms a clump 45 cm (18 in) wide, consists of large orbicular leaves, wider than they are long, which are well-lobed, toothed, and dissected, while the leaves of the stems are much smaller and narrower. The foliage colour is a beautiful shiny green.

Place this adorable and perfectly hardy perennial in the middle of flower beds, in the company of Japanese anemones, Phlox paniculata, annual poppies, and perennial Delphiniums to create an elegant and poetic scene. Its compact habit does not require staking. Sidalcea 'Party Girl' also thrives in a cool rockery, associated with columbines and lady's mantle; you can create refined bouquets with its cut flowers. It also grows very well in containers or pots.