There is one flower that crops up in vintage photos of early American homesteads. Each year, the hollyhocks shed prodigious seed that was often carried westward with the pioneers. It's easy to spot them in vintage sepia tone photos because the bloom stalks can reach 10 feet tall, towering over the picket fences and porches of farm houses everywhere. They also were planted to screen off the outhouse so prim ladies of the 19th century could announce they were "going to see the hollyhocks" rather than stating their actual intention. Perhaps that well-fertilized ground around the outhouse ensured the plants lived on to screen this necessary building for generations.
These vigorous hollyhocks become the very same strains passed down to our own grandmothers. Each year her late-season task was to collect the seed, or perhaps it simply naturalized like wildflowers where conditions are right. Today the single-flowered, old-fashioned varieties remain the quintessential open-pollinated flower. Keep your eye out because hollyhocks are everywhere, so once you find them, harvesting this free seed will ensure they color all your gardens to come.
What makes hollyhocks unique is its biennial life cycle. This means Alcea rosea requires two growing seasons to come full circle. The year they are sown, the plant's growth is in the root, so they do not bloom, or do so modestly. This year plants die back with frost, then winter over underground in most climate zones. With the second summer they explode into enormous plants with multiple stalks of swanky blooms. Some gardeners swear that sowing freshly gathered seed in the fall results in better first year flowering compared to that of spring-sown seed.
Hollyhocks in their second year are generous seed producers. Flowers open at the lowest point on the stalk first. Then as they grow taller, new buds are formed and these become flowers while those first blooms are transformed into quarter-size seed capsules that are easy to spot. As the seed matures, the green case gradually turns brown and brittle, then finally breaks up. This releases dozens of large, flat black seeds the diameter of a pencil eraser.
Sometimes dry mature seed is being released at the low end of the stalk while new buds or fresh flowers open farther up. Wait too long and these will be gone and limit the quantity, so gathering is an ongoing effort. Seed gathering can be extended over many weeks as the hollyhocks trudge through the late summer and early fall.
Keep a sharp eye out for hollyhocks blooming in your area because these are proven strains. Seed from them are naturally adapted to your climate. Inquire where they grow because most gardeners will be happy to share their favorite colored varieties. Those sold today in seed catalogs are more advanced hybrids that may be double flowered or dwarfs, which won't be as tough or old-fashioned looking, and they may not be as appealing to bee pollinators. Others may be perennial species, which are not as easy to grow from seed. The key is to select the large, single-flowered types, which have been grown for decades, even centuries in the United States, because natural selection has winnowed out the gene pool to yield super adapted progeny.
Only the sunflower rivals hollyhocks in size and impact. For a great children's treat, plant both for a monster riot of color. They are typically grown against fences, which offer support in windy zones. Because the foliage tends to be disfigured by rust, it's traditional to plant shorter annuals immediately in front of them.
Hollyhock is making a big comeback because it's uniquely tailored to recent trends in gardening. This is an old-fashioned plant with very simple needs. It can be had cheaply or free if you gather seed from plants growing nearby. Best of all it is recognized by bees and other pollinators that may come and go safely, just as they have in American gardens for the last 200 years.
HomeStyle on 09/20/2014