Have you ever seen a bee nourishing on a calendula blossom?

[Iris_Germany]

Nice hollyhocks!
I don't suffer from weevils, but they get really badly attacked by rust. It doesn't kill them, just weakens the plants and makes them look untidy
I've a new garden this year, so I'm trying again in case they do better here.

Hi!
I fear it does not make a difference if you change the location. Where it rains, the mallow rust comes at its heels.

The rust is the reason why my neighbors not grow them anymore. I am nearly the only one who still has hollyhocks in the garden. There is one variety of hollyhocks who are not so much susceptive for the rust, the alcea ficifolia. They get it too, only very much milder than alcea rosea. I have the latter too in my garden but a lot of the new hybrid type too. I treat them all with brimstone.

I buy the cheap brimstone powder because the fungus treatment from the garden center I find too expensive. 1 Kilo pure brimstone costs 8 Euros, approx. 7 GBP. I throw it allover the plant and the soil. It looks a bit strange but it works. The powder is not water-soluble, therefore I have to do it this way instead of spraying. And as you can see on the pictures, they do not have noteworthy rust. A little bit but I keep it in check with the brimstone.

Maybe you know this already, but brimstone is not bad for the bees and not for the soil. At the contrary.
And it lasts forever. This 1 kilo I have already for over 4 years in use.

Good luck with your new garden.
Would be nice if more beautiful hollyhocks could be seen in other gardens too again.

[Martin H]

Thanks for the tip, Iris! I will investigate brimstone.

[Iris_Germany]

Thanks for the tip, Iris! I will investigate brimstone.

Hi Martin,

I just put away the rest of my hollyhock seeds for storage. The dark red ones and the light red ones I guard like a treasure. Last year, I only had these two colours of hollyhocks in my allotment, and therefore I hope that they not got pollinated from other hollyhocks, apart from maybe a shade darker or lighter, and the seeds inherit their colours.

As I did not know that hollyhocks did not preserve their original color, when they got pollinated from another hollyhock, I wondered the first years why all seeds I grew from seeds got "pink". It was infuriating! I have only one pink hollyhock which I wanted to keep after the "all-children-are-pink"-desaster: The one here on this picture. Nature made it striped. A red one and a white one got a pink-white striped child.

What colours of hollyhocks do you have in your garden?
And do you take seeds for new plants or do you let the hollyhocks get old with the same plant?

Thanks, I would be interested to know other opinions about this topic.

[Martin H]

I like that stripy one, very classy.

I only moved into my house in May this year and none of the hollyhocks I sowed in the summer (from a packet of mixed hybrid seed) have flowered yet. I'm expecting great things. Or pink.

[Iris_Germany]

I like that stripy one, very classy.

I only moved into my house in May this year and none of the hollyhocks I sowed in the summer (from a packet of mixed hybrid seed) have flowered yet. I'm expecting great things. Or pink.

Hahaha, let us know here how they have turned out.

[coreopsis]

Iris, my friend has started some hollyhocks this year so they won’t flower until next year. I got a mixture of colourful single ones and black one for medicinal purposes.
Your hollyhocks are beautiful, thank you very much for the tips re pests and diseases,at least I know what to keep an eye on.

As for bee friendly flowers, I read somewhere long time ago to avoid any flowers with double blooms.