Hollyhocks, Alcea rosea – sowing, planting and cutting

The selection of beautiful hollyhocks is enormous. If you are looking for a particularly colorful appearance in your garden, choose one of the magnificent mixtures that can be found in abundance in specialist shops and garden centers. Below are some of the most popular strains:

Parkrondell

• semi-double, soft pink flowers
• long flowering period from June to September
• Growth height up to 250 cm
• Planting distance 100 cm

Parkallee

• semi-double flowers in soft yellow
• Growth height up to 250 cm
• Flowering period June to September
• Planting distance at least 100 cm

Chaters Rosa

• gorgeous double flowers
• delicately colored pink
• Growth height up to 200 cm
• Flowering time July to September
• Planting distance 50 cm

Chaters Chamois

• particularly dense inflorescence
• lush double flowers in apricot
• Growth height up to 200 cm
• Flowering time July to September
• Planting distance 50 cm

Alcea Parkfrieden

• semi-double dusky pink flowers
• Growth height 150 cm to 180 cm
• nice fence watcher
• Flowering period June to September
• Planting distance 50 cm

Alcea Mars Magic

• velvety red cup flowers
• persistent flowering from May to October
• Growth height 180 cm to 200 cm
• Planting distance 70 cm

Alcea rosae Nigra

• impressive black flowers
• Growth height up to 180 cm
• Flowering time July to September
• Planting distance 70 cm

Polar-Star

• pure white flowers with a yellow eye
• long flowering period from May to October
• Growth height up to 200 cm
• Planting distance 70 cm

Party Time

• pink flowers in a fringed look
• Growth height up to 90 cm to 150 cm
• Flowering June to September
• Planting distance 50 cm

Chater’s violet

• deep violet, double flowers
• Growth height 180 cm to 200 cm
• Flowering time July to September
• Planting distance 50 cm

Sowing in the bed

If you want to sow hollyhocks in your garden for the first time, you can buy the seeds for little money in any garden center. If the magnificent mallows are already in place, there is no problem harvesting the seeds. After flowering, the brownish pericarps form, which are cut off with scissors while they are still closed. Inside are the disc-shaped seeds. The self-harvested or purchased seeds are sown in the desired place in the garden immediately after flowering and lightly raked in.

They should definitely be under a thin layer of earth so that the wind doesn’t blow them away. During the winter, a layer of straw or fir twigs provides protection from the cold and snow. The young seedlings will appear next spring. If they are too close together, they will be isolated by removing the weakest specimens. A distance of 50 cm between individual plants is considered ideal. To ensure that sowing in the bed is successful, the experienced hobby gardener chooses a sunny, warm and wind-protected location with nutrient-rich and loose soil. In places where the soil quality is not quite up to par, adding mulch will help improve drainage.

Sowing indoors

The seeds of the hollyhocks can of course also be grown indoors. The best time for this is early spring in March or April. Two of the seeds are placed in a small seed pot with a nutrient-poor, well-drained substrate. The seeds should only be lightly covered with soil. The substrate is permanently kept slightly moist until germination, which begins after 15 to 20 days. During this time, the potties should be in a warm place, but not in direct sunlight. On the one hand, covering with a glass coaster or a transparent film prevents the first insects from laying their eggs in the potting soil and the larvae from nibbling on the seedlings; on the other hand, a warm, humid climate is created for the seeds, which promotes germination.

Immediately after the ice saints in mid-May, the young hollyhock plants can then be planted in the bed. However, sowing the seeds indoors in conjunction with planting in the bed from mid-May has the disadvantage that the distinctive flowers will not unfold until the following year. Depending on the number of seeds that are sown, there may be a lack of space in the house. In this case, the propagation pots with the seeds are placed in the ground in autumn and covered with straw or fir branches during the cold season. This has the advantage that the young plants can be transplanted to the desired location much more easily next spring by removing them from the pot without damaging the roots.

plants and care

If a particularly hard-working specimen of hollyhocks in your own garden has provided for plenty of offspring by self-sowing, there is nothing wrong with planting some of the young seedlings in another place. The following information should be observed:

• loosen the soil all around
• only then remove the seedlings
• Hollyhocks are deep-rooted
• Plant in a sunny, sheltered spot
• possibly attach to bars and climbing aids
• water regularly in the early morning
• Mulch layer protects against drying out
• give nitrogenous fertilizers in the spring
• don’t fertilize in summer
• Weed early
• Check daily for pests and diseases

Of course, these tips for planting hollyhocks also apply to young plants that are grown indoors or bought in a garden center.

plants in the bucket

The colorful Alcea rosea are also popular pot plants for sunny terraces, balconies and entrance areas. The plant substrate is perfect if it is rich in nutrients, humus and contains some sand. Then there is nothing wrong with planting the seeds or young plants in it. Since hollyhocks cannot cope with waterlogging, the planter should have a drainage hole for irrigation water, over which there is a drainage made of coarse materials such as gravel or broken pottery. Experienced hobby gardeners add a piece of air- and water-permeable fleece between the substrate and the drainage so that it doesn’t get clogged. If you think about filling the substrate up to a few centimeters below the edge of the bucket in good time, you won’t have any problems with something spilling over when watering.

To cut

The time of pruning determines whether the hollyhock plant should continue to multiply by natural sowing at its location in the garden or not. If the mallow plant is shortened to 10 centimeters immediately after flowering, no seed pods form, so that natural propagation is not possible. In this case, the unfilled varieties of hollyhocks also flower the following year. If the pruning does not take place until late autumn or next spring, the natural process of propagation is not interrupted. The mother plant ejects the seeds and then dies. The remaining parts of the plant can be cut off close to the ground. During the pruning work, an eye should be thrown on the young seedlings. Are they too close together?

Diseases

Mallow rust is particularly common on hollyhocks. Especially during the summer time, when the flowers should actually be at their peak, unsightly yellowish-brown spots suddenly appear on the upper side of the leaves, which are caused by a fungus, Puccinia malvearum. If countermeasures are not taken immediately, not only can the plant die, but there is a risk that other plants in the garden will also be affected. Therefore, the following tips for preventing and combating mallow rust should be considered:

• Place plants in the ground at an airy distance
• Loosen wet soil beforehand and work in humus
• Only pour water directly to the roots
• Remove affected leaves immediately
• incinerate diseased parts or dispose of with household waste
• Prune perennials radically after they have faded
• cover the stump with soil until spring
• in April remove the mound of earth
• Cut off the first 4 new leaves
• use chemicals as a last resort.

Gardeners who generally shy away from using chemical pesticides can fight mallow rust with a biological spray that contains the following ingredients:

• 375 g fresh or 50 g dried field horsetail
• 2.5 liters of water

The plant parts are soaked in water for 1 day and then gently boiled for 20 minutes. As soon as the broth has cooled, strain and regularly spray the hollyhocks with a spray bottle. As an alternative to horsetail, you can also use garlic, onions or yarrow.

In the event of an infestation with the wilt disease, which is also triggered by a fungus, experience has shown that there is no longer any salvation for the hollyhock. This malicious fungus clogs the water supply within the plant, causing it to die. In this case the only solution is to completely remove the plant, including its roots and the surrounding soil.

pests

Various pests have specialized in mallow plants such as hollyhocks. These include the mallow flea beetle, a metallic blue beetle with red legs, and the mallow shrew, another species of beetle with a pointed proboscis. They also cause feeding damage to the hollyhocks, as do the larvae of the mallow skipper butterfly. As is usual with all pests in nature that concentrate on a single plant species, they cause small holes in the leaves, but do not kill the plant completely. Sprays on natural pyrethrum, made from chrysanthemums , have proven to be a largely biological agentbe won. They not only drive away the unwanted insects, but also have a deterrent effect that prevents re-infestation. These drugs are not toxic to humans or animals, except for fish. Therefore, it should not be used near a fish pond.

Conclusion
The slender, tall hollyhocks with their numerous flowers have not only conquered a regular place in most cottage gardens, but also adorn house walls, fences and flower borders in gardens of all styles. Sowing and planting are pleasantly uncomplicated. If the garden friend grants them a sunny, wind-protected, warm location in nutrient-rich, permeable soil, they will flower for many months in the second year. If nature has a free hand after flowering, the hollyhocks multiply all by themselves without any gardening intervention. The experienced hobby gardener keeps the mallow rust that often occurs on hollyhocks under control if he takes some preventive measures into account when planting and later in connection with care. Then the chances are good, the magnificent hollyhocks,