Nostalgia adds to the appeal of hollyhocks

ONE of the tallest garden flowers, often topping two metres with its towering flower stem, hollyhock has long been popular. Little wonder: few flowers are so spectacular in their appearance and remarkable in their rate of growth.

Hollyhocks were a traditional flower of cottage gardens, and part of their attraction is nostalgic. People often remember seeing a towering hollyhock as a child and marvelling at its size. The tall spires of brightly coloured flowers have become popular again in recent years.

Few flowers are so dramatic, partly because they appear for just a limited time in late summer. They can change the look of a garden, or part of a garden, for a period of several weeks from mid-summer, creating seasonality, and then they are gone. The seasonal effect is created by the height of their stems and the size and colour of the flowers.

Many colours are available. Some kinds have light shades of yellow, pink, orange and salmon, and others are dark shades of red, wine and almost black, really a very dark purple. The dark forms, especially one called ‘Black Knight’ are popular and bring a contrasting colour note to the garden.

Most kinds have large, open single flowers, but the double-flowered kinds, such as ‘Chater’s Double Mix’, with rounded, ruffed flowers are widely grown. These tend to be heavier than the singlekind, especially when wet with rain.

Hollyhocks are biennials, sown one year to flower the next, or short-lived perennials lasting a few years from sowing. Seeds can be sown in June or July, or even earlier to give large plants to flower next summer. Sow in pots and transfer outdoors, or sow directly where they are to flower.

Seeds can be sown in a greenhouse in early spring to flower the same year, but the best results are got from sowing the previous year because the rosette of leaves from which the flower stem arises is bigger. There are short annual varieties, which are pretty, but they lack the drama of size.

Hollyhocks are fast grow- ers which like rich fertile ground, well-drained with no water-logging in winter. Dig in plenty of well-rotted compost if the soil is heavy. Supports should be put in place when the flower stems begin to grow. Hollyhock rust is a fungus disease that covers the leaves with orange spots. Despite the disease, the plants still flower. Fewer problems arise when new plants are raised from seeds each year because the disease does not have the same opportunity to carry over from year to year.