OLD FASHIONED HOLLYHOCKS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 880, 25 January 1930, Page 30

OLD FASHIONED HOLLYHOCKS

The hollyhocks are one of the oldfashioned. dowers that are again coming to be better appreciated in our gardens. Us stately appearance harmonises well with the modern style of architecture, and a few clumps of these flowers judiciously placed in the garden have a charming effect when in bloom. Owing to their deeprooting system, the plants are able to stand considerable draught, and for this reason they are very useful in gardens where the water supply is limited. Both the single and double flowering kinds are popular, and give the flower beds a gay appearance during the summer months, which is the principal flowering season. They usually commence to bloom about the end of November, and, if cut back as soon as the flowers have faded, and before seed has been formed, another crop of bloom can be obtained in the autumn. The range of colouring is greater in the singles than in the doubles, and there are also some delicate colourings in the semi-double and fringed varieties. Hollyhocks will grow in almost any soil, provided that it does not become wet during the winter, but the best results are usually obtained from light, well-drained soils deeply worked, and containing plenty of lime. If manure is necessary, bone dust, or superphosphate can be used, also old stable or cow manure, if obtainable, and these manures should be well mixed with the subsoil, as the plants should be encouraged to root deeply. The hest means of propagation is by seed, and as both singles and doubles bear seed, either kind can be successfully grown in this manner.

Seed can be sown either in autumn or early spring, and plants raised from early autumn sown seed will flower the following summer, but if sown later than September, they will not flower the first season. There is, however, a strain of annual hollyhocks which will bloom the first season from spring-sown seed. The seed may be sown either in boxes, which should be not less than six inches deep, or in a prepared bed in the open ground. Drills about three-quarters of an inch deep should be made, and the seeds dropped into them about an inch apart, and afterward the drills should Ife filled with sandy soil and pressed firm. The soil must then be kept moist until the plants are well above ground. Too much water should then be avoided, as the plants are very liable to “damp off.” As soon as they are large enough to transplant, the plants should be put into their permanent positions in the garden, where they should have plenty of light from overhead, and must not be planted under trees or shrubs.