A largely extinct wildflower indigenous to Oregon’s Willamette Valley and several small areas in Washington, this long-lived easy-care clumping perennial is touted as one of the best butterfly plants in the Pacific Northwest. Short thick rhizomes sustain an attractive fast-growing foundation of tall, strong-branched hairy stalks and rounded, fuzzy gray-green leaves that are palmately divided into toothed segments with pointed tips. Providing untold ornamental merit plus a reliable nectar source for native bees and hummingbirds, pretty cup-shaped white to soft pink blooms clutched by fleecy green calyces embellish the openly-arranged upright spires. Amenable Meadow Checkermallow can be added to cut creations, pollinator gardens or woodland edges, where it appreciates good drainage and endures dry conditions once established.

Blooms late May–July

Size: 3' 0" – 6' 0" high x 12" – 2' 0" wide.

Hardy to zone 5.

‘Elsie Heugh’ is a well-loved old favorite, whose popularity has never waned and for good reason. Easygoing, best en masse and equally at home in a cottage garden or a more formal border, this distinctive Hollyhock relative presents fringed shell-pink blooms with a silky luster. The lovely, 5-petaled Mallow-like blossoms are borne on erect, stately branching spikes above a good-looking green basal clump of round, shallowly lobed leaves that become smaller and more fingered as they ascend the flowering stems. Provide a fertile loamy soil and cut back after blooming to promote a flowery encore.

Blooms July–mid-September

Size: 2' 0" – 3' 0" high x 15" wide.

Hardy to zone 5.

While California’s native Sidalcea malviflora roams our wild grasslands, this vigorous evergreen selection can endow your garden with Hollyhock-like blooms atop thick, scalloped dark-hued greenery. The close-knit carpet-like habit manifests a bevy of butterfly-friendly cup-shaped deep rosy-pink flowers that unfurl all summer long. Abiding dry conditions as well as gophers, Checker Bloom makes a handsome small-scale ground cover for meadows, borders or coastal plantings and looks its best when watered moderately.

Blooms June–mid-September

Size: 6" – 10" high x 12" – 2' 0" wide.

Hardy to zone 6.

Coveted by butterflies, hummingbirds and floral designers, the dignified, tall upright spikes are generously garnished with glowing deep rose-colored blooms sporting a satin sheen. Large, free-flowing 5-petalled mallow-style blossoms stage a late-season swan song if Prairie Mallow’s compact bushy clump is cut back after the initial posies have faded. Clothed in rounded and lobed, glossy midgreen foliage, this stylish robust U.S. native can be added to meadow-like plantings or perennial borders, where it looks spectacular en masse, appreciates a hard yearly pruning, braves gophers plus most pests, but abhors hot humid summers.

Blooms July–September

Size: 2' 0" – 2-1/2' high x 20" – 2-1/2' wide.

Zone 4b/5.