I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Philippians 1:3
I just adore flowers – especially the old-fashioned flowers that women have been growing for ages. Sometimes you can tie these old-fashioned beauties to a time, place or person. MEMORIES! Sweet peas always remind me of my grandma -- she had a huge hedge of them growing near her clothesline and hollyhocks remind me of a sweet, elderly neighbor lady from when I was a little girl and my family lived in the BIG farmhouse (the first farmhouse I loved), before moving to the burbs and into a tract home (okay, that was 1972 and I still am sad about that, lol) – her hollyhocks were giants in her yard and beautiful against her PINK farmhouse – those flowers and her house simply mesmerized me.
My sweet friend Sharon from A Merry Heart Journal put out the word that she had hollyhock seeds available to gift – she sent me the most precious package of them. I will be planting them this weekend in a little bed on the west side of my garage. I edged and tilled that bed this last spring but never did get it planted – now I know why – it was supposed to be for Miss Sharon’s hollyhocks!
The act of sharing seeds, cuttings and divisions of your flowers is a very special thing ---- women have this done forever – passing on their beautiful blooms and prize winning garden goodies. I will share seeds from these hollyhocks when they become available. Thank-you Sharon for such a precious gift! Everytime I see those blooms, I will think of and pray for you. Do you have something to share with a friend or a neighbor -- seeds from something sweet or something needing dividing?
photo credit: BH&G
Growing Hollyhocks ~ Fall Planting
1). Sow the hollyhock seeds directly into the flower bed. The area must receive at least six hours of direct sunlight each day. Plant the seeds 1/4 inch deep.
2). Water the seeds well and keep the soil moist until the hollyhock seeds germinate. Thin out unwanted plants or transplant to another garden area. Continue watering at least once a week.
3). Cut back the hollyhock stalks to ground level after the first frost hits. The roots will continue to grow and establish into a good root system for spring.
4). Mulch the new plants to protect them from the winter. Remove the mulch in the spring to allow the hollyhocks to sprout easily.
5). Maintain a biweekly watering schedule for the hollyhocks in the spring. Either deadhead the flowers as they die or allow the hollyhock to drop the seeds and self-seed the area for new plants the following growing season.
