I'll be adding them to the butterfly garden this spring if/when the snow ever melts here; I remember them from my childhood, but haven't seen them in people's gardens for decades. Hollyhocks are reported to be a good host plant for Gray Hairstreaks, Skippers, and Painted Ladies, none of which I've ever raised.
Image credit: hand-tinted photo from ~1915, found by lovedaylemon. Via (exclamation mark).
The official flower of Lone Wolf and Cub. Wish they could take the Texas heat.
ReplyDeleteThey are great flowers. I remember them from my childhood. Try to get some heritage varieties if you can. Colonial Williamsburg used to sell them.
ReplyDeleteThere are two kinds of hollyhocks; the modern, multi-ruffled variety, and the old-fashioned single ones (such as are in the picture).
ReplyDeleteMake sure you get the single hollyhocks.
For raising butterflies? Does it matter?
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing that we often think of certain species or varieties of flowers and fruits as old-fashioned? How did we arrive to a point where actual life forms are nothing more than a fad?
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have to admit my first thought upon seeing the photo was, "Oh, hollyhocks, how wonderfully old-fashioned."
When I was a girl, another girl taught me to make hollyhock dolls. I don't recall exactly how to make them - I think we used one flower for the big skirt, and tied it with something to make a waist; and the head was....I forget. Anyway, this would be fun for five minutes or so.
ReplyDeleteZelora - here's a tutorial on how to make hollyhock dolls -
ReplyDeletehttp://yourstilniagarafalls.typepad.com/yours_til_niagara_falls/2008/06/hollyhock-doll-tutorial.html
When I was a girl, another girl taught me to make hollyhock dolls. I don't recall exactly how to make them - I think we used one flower for the big skirt, and tied it with something to make a waist; and the head was....I forget. Anyway, this would be fun for five minutes or so.
ReplyDeleteLove the photo!
ReplyDeleteI love how they are resilient; they grow even if there is very little space and sunshine around. They come back year after year, and they are available in a lot of colors. I used to cultivate sunflowers but hollyhocks are a nice alternative.
ReplyDelete