Greetings, aspiring gardener. I am the spirit of the hollyhock, a towering beacon of the cottage garden. To help my kind flourish from a tiny, dormant seed into a magnificent spire of blooms, you must understand our needs from our perspective. Follow this guide, and we will reward you with our vibrant, papery flowers for seasons to come.
We hollyhocks appreciate a head start. For a glorious display in our first summer, you should sow our seeds indoors about 6 to 8 weeks before the last expected spring frost. This mimics the natural cold period we often need to break our dormancy. Alternatively, you can sow us directly into your garden in the fall. The winter's chill will naturally stratify us, and we will awaken with the spring warmth, ready to grow strong roots.
We are not overly fussy, but we demand well-drained soil. We despise having our roots sit in constant moisture, as it will cause them to rot. Choose a spot that bathes in full sunlight for most of the day; we are sun-worshippers and need its energy to grow tall and strong. Work the soil until it is loose and friable, and mixing in a little compost will make it a perfect, nourishing home for our seedlings.
Our seeds are our hope for the future. When sowing us indoors, place us gently on the surface of a moist seed-starting mix and press us in lightly, as we need some exposure to light to germinate properly. Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. For direct sowing outdoors, plant us about 1/4 inch deep and space us 18 to 24 inches apart. This gives our future selves ample room to stretch our leaves and grow without competing with our siblings.
Once we emerge, delicate and green, we are vulnerable. Keep the soil evenly moist and provide us with plenty of light to prevent us from becoming leggy and weak. If you started us indoors, you must harden us off before our final journey to the garden. This process of gradually exposing us to outdoor conditions—wind, sun, and cooler temperatures—is crucial. It strengthens our stems and prepares us for life in the elements.
As we mature, our ambition is to reach for the sky, often growing 5 to 8 feet tall. Such height makes us susceptible to strong winds and heavy rain. To help us stand proud and avoid being toppled, please provide support. A stake placed near our main stem, tied loosely with soft twine, will allow us to grow upright and display our flower spikes to their full, magnificent potential.
We are resilient and often self-seed, ensuring our legacy continues in your garden. To encourage this, allow some of our flower spikes to mature and develop seed pods. When these pods turn brown and dry, you can collect the seeds within to sow next season or simply let them fall to the earth naturally. We are typically biennials, meaning we focus on leaf growth in our first year and burst into glorious bloom in our second, though many of us will happily return for years through our self-sown progeny.
