Perennials, shrubs or annuals, normally pink or purple flowers, from coastal areas, open rocky and waste ground. Full sun. With shrubby forms regular cutting back encourages good flowering.
The flowers produce abundant nectar and pollen which is attractive to a wide range of insects including bumblebees, hoverflies and beetles, while the foliage of most is palatable to the larvae of some garden moths.
All Lavatera have now been renamed under Malva.