Pink Mallow Blooms At The Beach In Pacifica, California

I love stalk flowers and especially the light pink mallow that blooms as a native in Israel, amidst dry golden weeds such that the pink blooms are especially stunning. On our recent trip to Pacifica, California I was especially surprised to see mallow ( actually part of a large family called Malvaceae) growing at the edge of the Sharp Park beach, who knew it loved the wet foggy climate? Even more surprising to me was that I spotted a mallow tree, which I certainly would never have expected! And yes, since mallow is a plant that produces seed pods that can be collected, I did examine the plant but decided that the seed pods were way too damp to collect.

So friends, keep your eyes open on your travels and discover plants you recognize and some that may just surprise you. Plant identification is so simple with google image search, which I use all the time, and it is so much fun to find out names of plants you don’t recognize, and maybe even consider trying them back home!

Lovely stalk flowers meet the sea, the best of everything! It is true, the plant does not look its glorious best in this location, but it is growing! Mallow generally has large leaves that get smaller at the top, and they are generally flatter, not curled up like these, but you can’t blame them, the weather here is tricky for a stalk flower.

And yes, here (above) is the mallow “tree” I mentioned, so interesting. I did a little bit of research and learned that mallow is considered “tree-like” and in California it is a perennial shrub that grows to 3m tall, with blooming from late June to early October. Mallow is also popularly known as hibiscus, but I’m assuming that is not referring to this mallow, rather the Syrian hibiscus, that is also part of the malvaecae family, interestingly enough! I just saw syrian hibiscus growing in Jersey City, with lovely summer blooms, so if you live in a spot with cold winters, that is apparently a great plant! Ah yes, and it turns out that the beloved hollyhock, Alcea rosea, is also in the Malvaceae family, and what a great family it is!

Collecting Mallow Seed Pods

If you love to collect seeds and give growing a wild flower species a try, consider collecting seeds! And it just so happens, that collecting seeds from mallow is just as easy as can be, as the plant produces seed pods, that when dry are ready for the picking! I do have quite a few waiting for their chance to grow, stored in my seed container somewhere (hmmm?) and I did think about collecting seed pods from this seaside location (a great souvenir!) but honestly everything was just too wet, and I’m not that experienced to know what to do with them!

While some seeds are quite tiny, mallow seeds that are conveniently stored in a pod also happen to be quite large, for a flower seed that is, another bonus.