Friday, December 01, 2006

Hollyhock


Hollyhock seed from my English garden has produced flowers that have done well here in Spain. This bloom is from a second flush of flowers after the main stem was removed after dying back following the first flowering period. The pollen on the lower petal means that it has been pollinated by a visiting insect and will soon produce it's own seed.

Established Hollyhocks can suffer from Rust markings on the leaves so many growers sow new seed each year. The flowers are produced in the year after sowing.

4 comments:

  1. Oooh, Colin, what a beautiful colour. I don't think I've ever seen a bright red hollyhock. I remember the pale pink ones in my gran's garden.

    Jerez airport has the pink ones so they do grow down this way. When's the best time to start the seeds?

    Stunning photos of all your plants, by the way.

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  2. Hi Pam,

    I like to my seed in autumn the way nature does it, I think the plants establish a good root structure over the cooler months which helps them stand the heat later in the year.
    This also means they will flower before spring grown plants too.

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  3. Hello Julie,

    My site is hot and windy so I found a spot that gives them a little afternoon shade,
    a siesta spot, even so they did suffer during a particular hot spell. I remembered reading that rather than constant watering pruning the top growth also helped the plant to cope with the free draining soil we have around here. So I pruned the Hollyhocks and they came back strongly as soon as the weather cooled a little. Are you planning to blog from your Texan garden? If so let me know about it, it is interesting to see how other folks are gardening.

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  4. Anonymous4:21 pm

    My favourite flowers too. Would like to plant some on a shadier side of my garden in Mallorca. Does anyone know the Spanish for Hollyhock (and Foxglove?) please.

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