Hollyhock

Hollyhock (Althaea Rosea) - One of the best hardy plants, valuable for bold and stately effects among or near flower-beds. Cottage bee-keepers would do well to grow a few Hollyhocks, for bees are fond of their flowers. They demand deep cultivation, much manure, frequent waterings in dry weather, with occasional soakings of liquid manure, to secure fine spikes and flowers. They require good garden soil, trenched to the depth of 2 feet. A wet soil is good in summer, but injurious in winter, and to prevent surface wet from injuring old plants left in the open ground, remove the mould round their necks, filling up with about 6 inches of white sand. This will preserve the crowns of the plants. It is best, however, if fine flowers are desired, to plant young plants every year, as one would Dahlias, putting them 3 feet apart in rows at least 4 feet apart; or, if grouped in beds, not less than 3 feet apart. In May or June, when the spikes have grown 1 foot high, thin them out according to the strength of the plant; if well established and strong, leaving four spikes, and if weak two or three. By topping we increase the size of the flower, but shorten its duration. Stake them before they get too high, tying them securely, so as to induce them to grow erect. The most robust will not require a stake higher than 4 feet. Hollyhocks may be propagated by single eyes, put in in July and August, and also by cuttings put in in spring, on a slight hot-bed. Plants raised in summer are best preserved by putting them in October into 4-inch or 5-inch pots in light, rich, sandy earth, and then placing them in a cold frame, giving them plenty of air. Thus treated they will grow a little in winter. In March or April turn them out into the open ground, and they will bloom as finely as if planted in autumn. Plants put out even in May will flower the same year. In October lift all it is desired to save, and lay them close together in a slanting direction, at an angle of about 45 degree, in a warm, mellow soil at the foot of a wall or hedge, where, in hard weather, shelter can easily be given. Choice and scarce varieties may be either potted up or planted out in a frame. Some of the stools will have numerous growths starting from them, and unless the plants have a little heat early in the year, many of the cuttings cannot flower the same season.

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