Streambed Wild Hollyhock, or Mountain Globemallow, is a perennial plant oft to be seen waving its white-pink blossoms along riversides, meadows, fields, and disturbed areas. As a shade-intolerant plant, Wild Hollyhock will come forth profusely in lands just damaged by fire, though will quickly fade once other pioneer plants outgrow them. Blooming from early to late summer, these showy stalks can grow from two to six feet tall, with pollinators, bees especially, darting all about their towers. Iliamna rivularis is native to British Columbia and the North Western regions of the US and Canada, and fares well at high or mountainous elevations.
As they typically require environmental stress such as fire or scarring from seeds to germinate, seeds can remain viable dormant for more than a century. Yet, this is no reason to not get some in the ground soon! Fire suppression has altered the forest canopies and landscapes in this plant’s native lands, and has limited Wild Hollyhock’s ability to flourish. The softly-paletted spires of Iliamna will provide an untamed sense of whimsy and grandeur to behold.
