How To Grow Hollyhock Flowers From Seed
Hollyhock is an old fashioned cottage garden favourite of ours. Old fashioned, but never going out of fashion. Hollyhocks come in a range of colours and types, including the fluffy doubles and classic singles. The extent of the colours are unreal... from the go with everything tones of the ruffled Majorette champagne to blackcurrants, apricot and creams of the Halo's. Known as a short lived perennial they will die back and grow back and can live for 2-5years.
Sowing and germination tips
Planting and harvesting tips
Hollyhock disease prevention
Our favourite varieties of hollyhock to grow
Sowing + Germination Tips
- Sow the seeds in Late Summer and Autumn (For the Halo's Late Winter + Early Spring).
- The seeds are large and easy to handle, just cover lightly with soil.
- The seed can be direct sown, but as with most seeds I prefer to raise seedlings in a greenhouse over direct sowing.
- Once the seeds are sown, keep moist.
- The seeds will germinate in 14-21 days at 18-28°C.
Planting Tips
- Prepare the soil where the plant will be grown prior to planting with well rotted manure and compost.
- Transfer into the garden at 6 weeks of growth - when the seedling has its first lot of true leaves (around 10cm tall), making sure you harden off the seedlings to prevent any transplant shock.
- They will prefer a full sun position in the garden, with well draining soil, needing at least 6hrs of sunlight each day.
- Making sure the space chosen is sheltered from the wind.
- Space each seedling 30-40cm apart.
- Hollyhocks can grow VERY tall - some varieties can grow up to 200cm, they will need support. You can use a garden stake and string for this extra support.
- Every couple of weeks the plants will enjoy a treatment of seasol.
Harvesting Tips
- Hollyhocks will take around 200 days for seed to bloom.
- Harvest the flowers when half the flowers on the spike have opened.
- Hollyhocks will self seed well.
Disease + Pest Prevention
Rust (a fungal disease that are raised rust coloured bumps) can be an issue with Hollyhocks, especially in high humidity. To prevent this make sure the plants are well spaced for airflow in between each plant and planted in full sun, not shade and water at the base of the plant in the morning.
Snails enjoy a bit to eat on the hollyhock leaves, so makes sure you have preventative measures in place for protection such as crushed egg shells, a spiky barrier, copper tape, collecting them when they come out at night with a torch and bucket.
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