Can anyone name this plant

11 years ago

I have a little plant, just under 10 inches, purple flower buds, one almost open. I did not plant it. After we started getting rain it started coming up early fall, and even though we have been having freezing temps, it is still trying to bloom. I carefully dug it up today, roots all there. Have it on a warm porch but would like to over winter it in the house.

Thought it might be in the datura family but was told it was not. So........ anyone, any ideal? Oh, the bud is about half an inch.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:281923}}

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Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
just call it JOE.. and be done with it ..

ken
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
not helpful?? .. lol ...

hollyhock or mallow ... ????

why it germinated in fall is beyond me ... or do you mean you spotted it in fall???

ken
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stephanie_kay
Original Author
11 years ago
I will call it Joe! lol

No, it started coming up late Sept. I was doing a little weeding along my front sidewalk and it was about 2 inches or so, was going to pull it but decided to wait and see what it was. So I have been watching it. The past couple of weeks I thought about digging it up and bringing it in but had surgery and couldn't do it. Today I saw that it had the purple bud even though we have been having frost at night. It was not to hard to dig up, dug around it and took soil with it.

I did find out that it is Malva sylvestris.

I live outside of Chicago and we have had such a hot dry summer I am sure the late rains we had with the warm temps is what got it growing so late in the year. If it makes it this winter in my house will plant it back out next spring.

Stephanie
mistascott
11 years ago
They grow from seed to the point where they are a worthwhile annoyance in the garden and are invasive in parts of the U.S. If you didn't want to bother overwintering (beware of spider mites), you could seed it in Spring and get more plants than you could ever want.

Mine has survived several Fall frosts and is still blooming (pic is from Sunday).
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
and malva is mallow.. SCORE!!! ... lol...

pretty bored out here.. if you cant tell..

i have been holding the naming joke in store.. for months.. waiting for the right post.. lol ..

ken

ps: i bought a mallow once.. from a very high end botanical garden ... 10 years later.. i AM STILL TRYING TO KILL IT OFF .. and i swear in 10 years.. it has never seeded a second time.. and i am still getting seedlings ... i hate them with the passion of a million burning suns ... they should have known better .. they also sold me creeping jenny ... i never went back to their spring sale ... mine were annual.. in my zone .. but apparently.. not the seed ...

pps: it might be a challenge to grow it indoors ... in winter.. especially if you have a forced air furnace.. winter humidity is low for flowering plants indoors ... good luck
stephanie_kay
Original Author
11 years ago
Mistacott, I was thinking that maybe here in zone 5a they may not be so invasive but I see from Ken's answer they are very invasive in z5a. So I think not on putting out seed in the spring. lol If Joe (plants name) over winter's, I will put replant him in the spring. If not, my garden won't miss him. Love your picture. It would be nice if my bud opens to such a pretty color of purple.

Ken, I am glad you shared your naming joke for me and my plant. lol
I have a very small garden and even smaller now after the heat killed some of it. Maybe with just one plant I will be able to deadhead it before the seed spreads. Right now I plan on leaving it on my enclosed porch, it gets nice and warm there during the day and plenty of sun.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
Maybe with just one plant I will be able to deadhead it before the seed spreads.

==>> i have proceeded forward under that delusion before .. lol ..

the result of my efforts .. is to suggest you kill it NOW .. lol ...

in other words.. i forgot about it.. and 10 years later. i still have seedlings popping up ...

anyway.. enjoy it.. its going to be hard to keep it alive.. flowering.. indoors all winter.. if it dies.. do not mourn its loss.. there are better things for your small garden ...

ken
mistascott
11 years ago
That flower is darker than most from that plant -- in the summer they had more white in them. Not sure if that is because the flower just opened or the cold. I know some varieties have deeper purple flowers.

It reseeds like crazy, but you can easily pull the seedlings you don't want. Also, if you deadhead before it sets seed, it is much more manageable (and helps prevent the plant from becoming an annual or biennial as it wants to be). I don't find controlling it any less manageable than typical weed control, which I do anyway (by hand). I call it a "worthwhile annoyance" because I find it worth the trouble for this long-flowering plant.