Hollyhock is a plant I am sure everyone who has visited a country garden has experienced. In this post I share the Hollyhock in my garden and easy ways to grow your own.
When we first moved into our home in the country I was very excited to see that hollyhocks were on the property. However, the previous owner didn’t pick the ideal location for these old fashion easy to care for flowers. I first fell in love with the hollyhock at my mother in laws home. She had them planted right up against the house. People plant them so close to the house because the structure works as a great wind block. Some gardeners will stake them in the garden or plant them next to a fence.
Saving The Seeds
My mother in law use to deadhead the hollyhocks along the side of her house and just drop them into the ground below all summer long. I’ve done this and it works great. Giving the seeds to friends I am drying the pods and opening them up to only save the actual seed.
The assortment of mauve, pink, and white hollyhocks was located up against the house. In the past few years I’ve taken a few of the seeds and transplanted them in other places in the yard but these original bloomers stay reseeding themselves each year in the same location where I’ve added a few of my favorite landscape shrubs. The seeds are easy to spread and are a cheap way to add spectator color to any landscape or garden. The image above shows the 3 different tones of pink and white that have been blooming in my garden for over 8 years with little maintenance.
Pest Control
Find this video on my Bren Haas YouTube Channel.
How To Plant Hollyhocks
Hollyhock and hibiscus are in the Malvaceae (mallow) family. This is why the blooms look so similar. I am a huge fan of the Rose of Sharon ( Hibiscus) is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is super easy to plant hollyhocks in your garden. The perennial is basically maintainace free onces it gets established.
More About My Hollyhock Plants
Here are a few post I share about the different varieties growing in my home garden.
Check out the Hollyhock TAG on my Website.
My suggestion to you if you would like to add hollyhocks to your garden is to be creative and not afraid to mix the colors. Direct sow (planting the seed directly in the ground) is really the best way to plant this perennial. I have had mine bloom the first year after planting seeds in Autumn the previous year.
Hollyhock Resources
- https://www.extension.iastate.edu/osceola/sites/www.extension.iastate.edu/files/osceola/April%2030%20Hollyhocks.pdf
- http://extension.msstate.edu/newsletters/garden-tips-newsletter/2013/hollyhocks
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Happy Gardening,
3 responses to “How to Grow and Care for Hollyhocks”
Will they come up through mulch, or do you have to wait and then mulch around them after they come up? Your picture looks like there’s mulch around-how does that affect them coming up again the next year?
Hey Matt – the hollyhocks on this blog has mulch added after the little plants were up from seed and established plants. The seed should fall down into the mulch and grow new plants if you don’t remove the seeds and or the soil / mulch. I use a mulch that is very natural and breaks down to a nice soil that that worms enjoy. I hope that makes sense! This time of year (April) in my hardiness zone the new plants are just starting to show and it is a good time to throw down some new seed if you saved some from previous year or newly purchased! Good Luck!
I have never had a problem with the seeds germinating in this location. The mulch I used in this area is a natural product that breaks down nicely to a soil base. Also, many of these hollyhock come up from the established root system. New layer of mulch is applied once the plants start to turn green in late spring.