This summer, I have been extremely impressed with Lavatera tauricensis. This plant was not supposed to be hardy in my Zone 6 garden. I think it’s listed as a Zone 7 minimum. I had grown some in California, from seeds bought from Thompson & Morgan. The ones in California produced some seed, which I brought with me and planted two years ago. The young plants didn’t do much last year, but this year, they’ve gotten about two feet tall and have been absolutely smothered with blooms for a long season.

There is a slight variation in the flower shapes on some of these plants. That first photo above shows a flower that doesn’t have gaps between the petals, but the second photo here shows a more divided flower. Either shape looks pretty cool to me.

Catalogs often describe perennials that will flower “all summer” or “June to frost” but most of these descriptions are optimistic. It’s a rare perennial that will actually keep flowering all summer, even after it has started producing seed. These babies are producing plenty of seed but they just keep flowering on and on! They’re great!

Now, I just wish they came in some other colors, too…