Lavatera named Silver Cup #3
by J McCombie
Title
Lavatera named Silver Cup #3
Artist
J McCombie
Medium
Photograph - Untouched
Description
This piece has been featured in the FAA "Macro Photography Group".
Lavatera can be annuals, biennials, perennials or subshrubs, with long-stalked, palmately lobed leaves and large, open funnel-shaped flowers in summer. This is a modern variety of an old cottage garden plant, very hardy and fast-growing, Lavatera trimestris is an annual cousin of the perennial mallow, with larger flowers. Dwarf, bushy and well branched, the plants are weather resistant and, growing to only 65-70cm (25-30in) the plants do not staking. They are smothered in flowers from mid summer to autumn. The flowers are large 10cm (4in) across and are excellent for cutting. With its wonderfully large blooms, 'Silver Cup' is a delightful variety bedecked with glistening pale pink flowers which are prominently veined with deep red-purple towards the centre. It is the pink-flowered counterpart of the pure white flowering variety 'Silver Cup'. Lavatera makes a beautiful bushy plant and is a superb border subject whose long flowering period well justifies a place in the border. Awarded the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).
The plant is reasonably tolerant of soil and aspect, but does best in a sunny location, and prefers well-drained, not over-fertile. Deadhead will keep blooms coming, leaving a few at the end of the season to produce seeds for next year. Harvest, dry and store the seeds. If you have an excess of seedlings, then these are one of the few hardy annual types that will respond to transplanting.
The flowers can be harvested anytime they are in full bloom. If the stem, leaves and flower are to be dried for an arrangement, snip the stem near ground level. If only the flower is to be dried, snip it off from the stem just below its' base. Whole plants and flowers can be easily dried, especially in a dehydrator.
Lavatera is in the family Malvaceae and is a cousin of hibiscus and hollyhock. A reference to a cultivar 'Silver Chalice' has been encountered. This may be the same as 'Silver Cup'. The plant was named after, J. R. Lavater a 17th century Swiss botanist It is a native of Spain and of Syria, but is not deterred by our cooler climates. The Annual mallow can bear very harsh temperatures without any problems, even many degrees below zero. Lavatera appears to have been introduced from Spain in about 1600 as, though not mentioned by Gerard, who wrote in 1587, it is by his commentator Johnson, who wrote in 1633. It was then called the Spanish Summer Mallow. Clusius was the first to apply to it its specific name of trimestris. Charles de l'luse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius (1526 -1609), was a Flemish doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th century scientific horticulturists. Clusius laid the foundations of Dutch tulip breeding and the bulb industry today. The species itself is pink and, although occasionally grown, was long since superseded by that old cottage garden favourite Loveliness. The Fleuroselect award winning varieties Silver Cup and Mount Blanc, which are pink and white flowered respectively, recently ousted Loveliness from many seed catalogues. Lavatera 'Parade' is a mixture of 'Mont Blanc', 'Pink Beauty', 'Ruby Regis' and 'Silver Cup'.
The cultivated strains are generally smaller, have larger flowers, and show a wider variety of colours. Strains include 'Deep Pink', 'Loveliness' (3-4 ft, deep rose-pink), 'Mont Blanc' (21 in, white), 'Mont Rose' (21 in, pink), 'Novella' (8-10 in, pink), 'Pastel' (mixed colours), 'Pink Beauty' (24 in, pale pink), 'Pink Regis' (presumable a paler pink version of 'Ruby Regis'), 'Rose Beauty' (24-30 in, pink), 'Ruby Regis' (24 in, cerise-pink), 'Salmon Beauty' (24-30 in, salmon pink?), 'Silver Cup' (24 in, pink), 'Splendens Alba', 'Splendens Sunset', 'Tanagra' (deep rose-pink), 'White Beauty' (24-30 in, white), 'White Cherub' (syn 'Dwarf White Cherub') (12-15 in, white), and 'White Regis' (presumably a white version of 'Ruby Regis'). Lavatera 'Beauty Mix' is a mixture of 'Pink Beauty', 'Rose Beauty' and 'White Beauty' strains. 'Dutch Beauty', 'Easter Parade' and 'Pastel Mixed' are similar mixtures. 'Dutch Beauty' was bred for the cut flower trade.
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February 7th, 2016
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