The Oregon checkerbloom is a herbaceous perennial native to northwestern regions of North America. It grows 2-4 feet tall and 1-2 feet wide, with deeply lobed leaves clustered at the base and densely clustered pink to lavender flowers blooming in spring and early summer. The Oregon checkerbloom is well-suited for perennial beds, woodland gardens, and edges of vegetable gardens or orchards, where it attracts pollinators and birds. It requires full sun to part shade and regular watering.

1. * Oregon Checkerbloom – Sidalcea oregana
(sid-AL-see-uh or-reh-GAH-nuh )
Family: Malvaceae (Mallow Family)
Native to: Northwestern CA to WA, Wyoming & Utah; meadows, stream margins, wet places, also in
ponderosa pine forests and sagebrush, low to high elevations.
herbaceous perennial
mature height: 2-4 ft.
mature width: 1-2 ft.
Herbaceous perennial from a stout woody taproot. Plant is variable in characteristics but has deeply
lobed fleshy leaves, often clustered at the base. Lower half of plant often hairy, sometimes densely.
Growth characteristics:
Blooms in spring to early summer – often May-June or July but varies with
conditions. Typical mallow-type flowers densely clustered on tall stems above the leaves. Flowers
¾ to 1” in diameter, deep pink to light pink or light lavender. An extremely showy Sidalcea that
makes an excellent cut flower.
Blooms/fruits:
Showy addition to a watered perennial bed with native Lilies, Scarlet
Monkeyflower, Giant Chain Fern, and sedges and rushes. Right at home in the woodland or cottage
garden. Striking when massed. Would do well around the edges of a vegetable garden, orchard or
lawn. Several attractive hybrids available: ‘Brilliant’ hybrid has bright red flowers; ‘Elsie Heugh’
hybrid has pink flowers (an older hybrid); ‘Party Girl’ hybrid has flowers in a range of pinks.
Uses in the garden:
Sensible substitute for: Non-native mallows, Hollyhocks.
Attracts: Attracts insect pollinators, butterflies, hummingbirds. Birds eat the seeds.
Requirements:
Element
Sun
Soil
Water
Fertilizer
Other
Requirement
Full sun to part-shade.
Well-drained soils; any local pH
Regular water – Zone 2-3 or 3.
Not required, but will tolerate low dose fertilizers, organic amendments.
Not good in hot, windy gardens.
Management:
Cut back the stalks in fall. Divide every 2 to 3 years in early spring.
Propagation: from seed: easy
by divisions:
Easy.
easy
Plant/seed sources (see list for source numbers): 1, 13; cultivars also available
3/29/11
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