A volunteer hollyhock in regal maroon adorned my side yard garden. When my granddaughter Rikki came to visit, I showed her the delicate make-believe dolly a hollyhock can be. The doll takes one blossom, one seed pod, and a toothpick. Scissor the excess stem from the pod and blossom, insert a toothpick under the skirt and through the blossom cap into the seed pod head. Use a felt tip marker to draw a happy face.
When her maroon-skirted hollyhock doll was finished, Rikki asked, “Where’s the boy hollyhock doll?” Frankly, grandma had never thought about boy hollyhock dolls, and it took me a moment to resolve the quandary.
Looking at the flower, I noticed that yesterday’s blossoms were furled into a sheath before withering, so I picked the furled blossom which I labeled as “pants” and proceeded to make my first boy hollyhock doll. Rikki was satisfied.
Hollyhocks can be planted in the late fall or in early spring. Hollyhock seeds only need to be planted right below the soil, no more than 1/4-inch deep. Hollyhocks need full sun and moist, rich, well drained soil. The one benefit that comes from growing hollyhock flowers is that they easily reseed themselves. While they may be short lived, in their proper growing conditions they will continually grow more.
After your hollyhocks get going, they’ll happily reseed themselves, attracting butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds to your garden for years to come.
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