Hollyhocks,
Alcea rosea - these are a classic cottage garden plant
for the back of the border. This is an example of the original
plant type, a large plant, 6 to 8 feet tall with simple single
flowers in a pastel shade. There are a large number of modern
cultivars available that may be shorter, have double flowers and
with a wider range of flower colours. I find myself somewhat of
a purist in these matters however and prefer the original type
as I do in with plants. They frequently suffer from rust which
is something it's easier to live with removing badly affected
plants and leaves than it is to fight.
Hollyhocks are
short-lived perennials that will readily self-seed. This is one
of the colony in my garden which have been there for the last 10
years since I bought a single packet of seed. If you let them
self seed like this, they will often self-select to a particular
type in my case, they are shades of pink from pale to almost
red. If you want a particular range of colours or height etc.
you will have to be a bit more pro-active. I happen to have
exactly what I'd choose to have any way. Birds love the seeds in
late autumn and early winter, and they will help distribute the
seeds with their messy eating habits.
Hollyhocks come from
Europe and Asia and while we think of them as typically English
cottage garden plants, they also have another life as typically
Asian plants too. They will grow right up against walls which
makes them useful as not many large plants will do this well. In
the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal (so I am told) they are
used for practical as well as aesthetic reasons. They are
planted right up close against house walls where they help to
dry the soil and prevent damp from wicking up the plaster-work
(or whatever it is made of) so protecting the house.
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