With large rose pink flowers this hardy perennial makes a striking plant in the garden. The young leaves, shoots, unripe seed capsules (known as cheeses) and flowers are edible. 9x9cm pot (8cm depth)
Description
- Edible flowers
- Attracts bees
- Good for wildlife gardens
- Aromatic
The leaves and flowers have a mild pleasant taste and can be cooked or eaten raw. The seeds are fiddly to harvest, but have a nutty flavour and are best eaten just before they ripen. This is a pretty plant to have in the garden and does self-seed nicely in wildflower gardens.
Plant Care
- Height: 60-100cm
- Type: Hardy
- Aspect: Sun
- Soil: Any/alkaline
- Flower colour: Pink
- Flowering period: July - September
Easy to grow, musk mallow can develop into a big plant with a wonderful display of pink flowers which open gradually along the stems. It has a long tap root and can self-seed well in the right conditions so it is better to cut the stems back before the seeds ripen fully and drop. If you haven’t the garden space for beautiful herb, it can be grown successfully in a pot and will enjoy regular feeding. It dies right down in winter and remerges in spring.
Usage
The leaves and flowers can be infused into a cooling, soothing tea to help with inflammation and irritation of the respiratory, urinary and digestive system. The nutty flavoured seeds can be eaten raw and the flowers make a pretty edition to salads, along with the mild flavoured leaves.
The fibrous stems of musk mallow have been used in the past for paper making, textiles and cordage; the flowers in the perfumery industry as a replacement for musk.