Plant Pick of the Month - May

Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) are one of my all time favorites. I quess they are one of my favorites because of story my grandmother told me. When she was little her grandmother had a playhouse that her and her cousins would play in, surrounding this house was Hollyhocks. So they would call thier playhouse Hollywood. I always thought that was such a cute story. I think most of the time we tend to like plants because of memories associated with them. Hollyhocks come in a variety of colors. They can be short lived and sometimes considered a biennial. They can be 4 to 8' tall and 2' wide. Growing in zones 3-7 they like rich, well-drained soil and full sun. They are pretty easy to grow from seed, which I decided to try this year. The same grandmother I mentioned in the story knows how much I love hollyhocks and gave my a couple of plants for mothers day.