I planted Silver Cup malva hoping to show it at the fair.....however, it wilted when I put it in a vase.....is there a trick to keeping them? I know poppies have to be seared with a match, & dahlias have to go into very hot water......anything like that for malva?

No tip that know of but the flower does close at night and only opens slightly on dark days, may be lack of light?
Did it perk up after a while?

Out of the 3 stems I picked, only one perked up....the others never did.....

Maybe try taking a container of warm water out with you when you go to cut the flowers? Sometimes if they are sucking up water at a huge rate, they will take up an air bubble when cut, which can cause the flowers to droop immediately. So cut, and straight into warm water (the same temp as the air, or warmer) will prevent this.

Never tried this for malva, I admit, but it works for other flowers.

Thanks Cinda & Elaine.....