Friday Fabulous Flower - rose mallow

TPP may have done the rose mallow before, but these flower merit a repeat. Quite honestly TPP doesn't know what species of mallow this cultivar comes from because there are several large flowered wild mallows and rose mallow (either one word or two) is a common name applied to at least 3 species in two genera, so there you go. These are one of the largest, showiest flowers you can easily grow; these are just over 20 cm in diameter. And of course they flower in the mid-summer garden. This image was captured early in the morning just after the buds opened; a few hours later the Japanese beetles had riddled the petals with holes. They love members of the rose family and mallow family. Groan.