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Hollyhock Information
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/hollyhock.html
By the Way Pioneer Thinking is one of my personally favored sites. They have a free newsletter that is always well packed with good information. Along with Pioneer Thinking I am of a mind that hollyhocks are perennial. Self seeding just doesn't make any sense to me when they bloom year after year but it takes two years for a plant to mature enough to bloom. I always grow mine from seed and never bothered with cold treating them. After sunflowers these are my next favorite flower. Very easy to grow. If your plants where only seeded your third year would be without blooms and that clump of growth I watched fight off the snow all winter would of died off. :-) Heck I might be wrong but when you see one thing and read another...you just have to wonder.
Hollyhock - Alcea rosea
Family: Malvaceae
Flower: Yellow, Purple, Pink, White, Apricot
Growing Season: Spring to fall, Perennial
Height: 24 -60 Inches ( 2ft-5ft)
Hardiness Zone: 5-9
Culture:
Well drained soil, full sun. Succeeds in most soils. Poor soils should be enriched with organic matter. Prefers a heavy rich soil and a sheltered sunny position. Plants are hardy to about -15-c. A very ornamental plant, it is usually grown as a biennial due to its susceptability to the fungal disease 'rust'. There are many named varieties. Young plants, and also the young growth in spring, are very attractive to slugs.
Propagation:
Seed - sow April/May or August/September in pots. The seed usually germinates in about 2 - 3 weeks at 20-c. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer. Division after flowering. Only use rust-free specimens. Root cuttings in December. Basal cuttings at almost any time of year.
Edible Uses:
Flowers; Leaves; Root; Stem; Tea.
Young leaves - raw or cooked. A mild flavour, but the texture
leaves something to be desired. They have been used as a
pot-herb, though they are not particularly palatable. They can
also be chopped up finely and added to salads.
Inner portion of young stems - raw.
Flower petals and flower buds - raw. Added to salads.
A nutritious starch is obtained from the root.
A refreshing tea is made from the flower petals.
Medicinal Uses:
Anti-inflammatory; Astringent; Demulcent; Diuretic; Emollient; Febrifuge.
The flowers are demulcent, diuretic and emollient. They are useful in the treatment of chest complaints, and a decoction is used to improve blood circulation, for the treatment of constipation, dysmenorrhoea, haemorrhage etc. The flowers are harvested when they are open and are dried for later use. The shoots are used to ease a difficult labour. The root is astringent and demulcent. It is crushed and applied as a poultice to ulcers. Internally, it is used in the treatment of dysentry. The roots and the flowers are used in tibetan medicine, where they are said to have a sweet, acrid taste and a neutral potency. They are used in the treatment of inflammations of the kidneys/womb, vaginal/seminal discharge, and the roots on their own are used to treat loss of appetite. The seed is demulcent, diureti and febrifuge.
Other Uses:
Compost; Dye; Litmus; Oil; Paper.
A fibre obtained from the stems is used in papermaking. The fibres are about 1.9mm long. The stems are harvested in late summer, the leaves are removed and the stems are steamed until the fibres can be removed. The fibres are cooked with lye for 2 hours and then ball milled for 3 hours or pounded with mallets. The paper is light tan in colour.
The flowers are an alternative ingredient of 'Quick Return' herbal compost activator. This is a dried and powdered mixture of several herbs that can be added to a compost heap in order to speed up bacterial activity and thus shorten the time needed to make the compost. The seed contains 12% of a drying oil.
The red anthocyanin constituent of the flowers is used as a litmus. A brown dye is obtained from the petals. Origin: China
http://www.doorbell.net/lukes/a091500.htm
It is thought that the hollyhock had been in cultivation in China perhaps a thousand years before it was introduced into England in 1573. Little wonder it qualified so admirably as being one of the oldest of cultivated flowers, one having real country hospitality with an old-fashioned feel.
The name hollyhock is from "holy hoc," later changed to hollyhock. "Hoc" refers to the mallows, one of which is the common garden hollyhock, Althea rosea. Althea (accent on the second syllable) is the Greek name of the marshmallow, Althea officinalis, also called sweatweed, a perennial herb of three to four feet, having one-inch pink flowers, that is native to Europe and has become naturalized in the salt marshes of eastern U.S.
http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modzz/00000076.html
Hollyhock is a biennial but self seeds giving the appearance of a perennial. These short-lived plants produce flowers covering a wide range of colors. Althea prefers a rich soil with lots of organic matter. Provide exposure to full sun as the plant dislikes any amount of shade. Because the coarse foliage is attacked by diseases, plant hollyhock near the back of the garden. The foliage will be hidden by shorter plants. The plants grow 5 to 6 feet high and are spaced 3 feet apart. Pinching one or two times early in the growing season gives shorter, branchier plants. Dormant terminal buds are sometimes injured by freezing or overwatering.
Hollyhock is propagated by division or seed. Division may be done in the spring but may be difficult due to a taproot. Each division needs to have an eye or bud. Seed can be planted any time between May and September. Young plants from late plantings need winter protection. The seed germinates in 2 to 3 weeks at 60 degrees.
And if you are interested http://educationalscience.com/ sells butterfly kits.
Melana Hiatt