Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) create a tall display of color with their outward-facing flowers that make an eye-catching display. Hollyhocks are biennial plants that bloom the second year from seed.
Flourishing lemon trees thrive in sunny locations that provide adequate drainage and tolerate light shade. Staking is also crucial to ensure they remain upright.
Hollyhocks can become susceptible to the rapidly spreading fungal disease known as hollyhock rust, so amending soil, watering at ground level, and cutting back faded foliage will help mitigate problems.
‘Sunshine’
Cottage gardens wouldn’t be complete without the signature blooms of hollyhocks adorning their borders and providing summer color. These classic perennials produce huge double flowers on tall spikes in various colors, from pink and white to yellow and red hues.
Hollyhocks are biennial plants, meaning that their leaves grow the first year and then bloom the second before setting seed and dying off. Their tall form makes an eye-catching statement in a garden or borders, and they look particularly striking against walls and fences.
Hollyhocks can be grown quickly from seed. Sow the seeds outdoors about one week before the last frost date or indoors using tall individual pots as the plants develop long taproots. Plant them in full sun with rich, well-draining soil protected from harsh winds for best results. Hollyhocks may be susceptible to fungal diseases like hollyhock rust and powdery mildew; however, regular pruning, air circulation, watering from below, regular pruning, and thorough fall cleanup help avoid associated issues.
‘Peaches ‘n’ Dreams’
Alcea rosea ‘Peaches ‘n’ Dreams’ is an indispensable classic of cottage gardens, boasting tall flower spikes of fully double powder-puff blooms adorned with tints of peach and raspberry pink hues. A biennial (it flowers heavily in its second year and then dies), it makes an ideal companion plant for roses, foxgloves, garden phlox, tulips, delphiniums, and even heirloom tomatoes.
Hollyhocks are easy to grow from seed, starting indoors approximately nine weeks before the last frost date and planting outdoors two to three weeks after any threat of frost has subsided. Preferring full sunlight with well-drained soil conditions but can tolerate various growing conditions.
Pruning after flowering will keep your plants tidy and promote new basal growth. If fungus diseases are an issue for your hollyhocks, use an organic fungicide throughout the season while giving them ample airflow; this will lower the risk while improving the beauty and revitalizing faded flower spires.
‘Creme de Cassis’
Hollyhocks are perennial, winter hardy to zone 3, with vigorous, tall flower spikes. Flowers may be single or double and come in various hues ranging from blue, pink, purple, and red. Plant in rich soil that receives regular watering to get the most from this perennial plant.
Hollyhock seeds can be quickly started from seed indoors approximately 10-12 weeks before the last frost date or directly outdoors after it.
Creme de cassis is a dark red blackcurrant-based liqueur known for adding rich flavor and deep hue to cocktails. Produced since 1841 using crushed and soaked blackcurrants soaked with sugar syrup, Creme de cassis has become widely commercially produced since.
This delicious liqueur is a favorite among many, especially when enjoyed alongside Champagne. Additionally, its syrupy liquor can be used in many cocktail recipes or consumed as an after-dinner treat on its own as an after-frappe drink.
‘The Bride’
Hollyhocks (sometimes known as ‘The Bride’) are classic cottage garden flowers that produce blooms up to 12 feet tall and feature large double flowers with their classic shape and color. Hollyhocks are biennial plants; their roots establish themselves in the first year, flower heavily in the second, and then produce seeds before dying out again after two years – quickly grown from seed or self-seeding into any landscape! They can soon become part of any landscape and often remain permanently!
Hollyhocks can tolerate dry soil conditions yet thrive best when grown in rich, well-draining soil with ample organic matter and full sun to partial shade exposure. Most regions self-seed as perennials; however, for extra convenience, you can easily overwinter as an annual by planting seeds indoors before the threat of frost and then transplanting out as soon as late spring arrives.
Hollyhocks support painted lady butterflies’ life cycles as host plants, drawing bees and hummingbirds into your garden. Hollyhocks pair well with tall annuals and perennials such as dahlias, clematis, Shasta daisies, black-eyed Susans, phlox shrub roses, and sweet william.
‘Scarlett O’Hara’
Hollyhocks make an eye-catching addition to cottage gardens. Their delicate beauty pairs beautifully with roses, foxgloves, peonies, and tall garden phlox flowers, and they are pollinator-friendly by supporting painted lady butterfly lifecycles and other pollinator species.
Chater’s double hollyhock seeds produce frilly, peony-shaped double blooms in shades of red, pink, yellow, and white, creating beautiful frills that form peonies-shaped blooms in shades of red, pink, yellow, and white. Easy-to-grow perennial flowers like this are known for withstanding drought and cold conditions while remaining drought-resistant and resilient against fungal diseases like rust. Plant them in full-sun locations while ensuring constant ventilation for optimal performance and growth.
Margaret Mitchell’s classic 1936 novel ‘Gone With the Wind’ tells the epic story of Scarlett O’Hara, an aristocratic Southern belle and widow who takes over Tara after its loss to Confederate forces during the American Civil War. Raised as a proper southern belle, Scarlett makes an unconventional stand for justice, even if that means drinking corn whiskey herself!
‘Banana’
Hollyhocks are romantic and majestic essential plants for cottage gardens. Standing tall on long stems, these lovely blooms make a striking backdrop in flowerbeds, walls or fences, and rural settings. For this purpose, ‘Chaters Double Pink’ variety hollyhocks make an excellent selection as their prolific blooms are immune to rust disease.
Hollyhock rust and powdery mildew are fungal diseases that thrive in humid conditions. To combat them, select a site with adequate drainage that drains well while watering from below rather than above to keep foliage dry.
Hollyhocks are biennial or short-lived perennial plants lasting 2 to 3 years before dying off. To prolong their lives and reduce weeding issues, mulch shredded leaves or grass clippings over them to extend their lives and keep weeds at bay. Hollyhocks require ample sunlight and are hardy in zones 3-7 but are typically treated as annuals due to harsh winters; begin seedlings indoors in fall to extend the growing season by overwintering them indoors overwintering them outdoors to extend their growing season by overwintering them indoors overwintering them indoors during fall for maximum success!
