Thanks Early, my neighbor has been growing them for years and must have had some crosses even tho they are all the same kind. She had some really pretty ones! I gathered a bag full of seed and sowed away. I moved them last fall and started them in another place since that was my garden and I need the room. I hope to get more of the yellow and whites.
Wow, that's a gorgeous bloom!
Nearly black.
These pictures are gorgeous. I've got pink seedlings going. Actually, I have more seedlings than garden to plant them in, but I guess that's not unusual.
Still organizing photos and found this one from last year. Buds are forming on them again this year. Won't be long now!
Oh, my, your garden is so romantic, cactuspatch! I love it!
Thanks, I have really enjoyed it. Never thought of romantic as how I would describe it! It is very peaceful with views of the mountains-something I had never had before and didn't know I was missing. ; )
Oh, Definitely ROMANTIC!!! I just love the colors....that coral-peach-apricot-melon - canteloupe- and vivid coral combination is my absolute favorite! And always with a vivid blue sky and adobe* colored house in the background....I have always loved it!
Suzy
*(that's what we call that color in the midwest, it probably isn't really adobe if you actually know what adobe is! :))
Right--it is not adobe. But after we remodeled a house once, we swore to never live in an old house again! And there are very few adobes being built nowadays. Mine is real stucco--that is the stucco from my youth and not the newer kind. LOL!
but back to hollyhocks, Mine as just about ready to pop open! Here is Chloe checking out one of them.
Oops! Something is up with my mouse and it didn't allow me to add that photo. Trying it again.
LOL... OK, who else looked at that photo and said, hey, those aren't hollyhocks! and then looked again at the foliage *behind* the orange flowers (poppies?). Chloe has beautiful markings!
We desperately need an update photo when those pop open... please?
:-)
Sure thing! LOL! I almost cropped the poppies out of there. But I thought that at least you could see a real bloom even if it was't a hollyhock. They will be single pinks when they do bloom. They are growing so fast now.
I'm glad you didn't crop them out -- they're cheerful blooms! Thanks for sharing them!
Okay, I just figured out adobe is mud, right? LOL! Stucco, I think I might have meant Stucco. and GOOD Stucco to boot. And I know what you mean -- we have houses with both kinds here, too. I have REAL plaster walls and am very proud of them.
Would you call it "adobe colored" stucco by any chance? It's such a southweatern color, y'know? There is NOTHING that color up here.
Suzy
actually, I think adobe is mud & straw... sun-baked... ?
and I think that's a classic stucco color because of its resemblance to adobe, although I don't know what the "official" name for the color is...
Yes adobe is mud and straw mixed and baked in the sun. Here is a photo of one. There are lots of different colors depending on the color of the mud in the area. This stucco color is "suede" I don't know why. The guy who did it is coming to repair some damage to an outdoor fireplace we have on the back porch. He asked me which house and I said the peachy one and he remembered because most of the houses here are lighter, more tan or white shades. Here is a real adobe from the 1930's that is actually the visitor center at White Sands Nat'l Monument.
Sorry Skimper--they only have native plants out there so no hollyhocks to keep on topic. Although we often see old abandoned homesites with hollyhocks still blooming today.
Cactuspatch:Your gardens are pretty!and I love!the scenery and view.Your orange poppies are pretty.
Do you know what type of poppies you have?
Thanks skimper. They are California poppies I think! They reseed yearly so the seed packet was bought years ago. We have poppies out in the wild here that look the same and I have heard them called Mexican Poppies.
Hey, Thanks for the pic of real adobe. Armchair learning at it's best!
Suzy
LOL! You are welcome, I have certainly learned a lot of non garden facts here at DG. Here are some of the wild poppies growing out in the desert. This is miles from civilation. About 40 miles south of my house anyhow!
My hollyhocks are stilling climbing daily, no blooms yet!
Cactuspatch, I love your home and flowerbed. It's romantic and restful! Your color is much prettier than real adobe :))
Another from the archives.
A two tone pink.
Thanks billyporter, real adobe can come in my color too! I don't think I have seen the mixed colors hollyhocks. That is a fun combo, reminds me of my rose "berries and cream".
The photos are beautiful! I received some malva seeds in a butterfly seed trade, and can't wait to see how they turn out. Do they bloom the first year?
New Mexico adobe homes make a gorgeous combination with flowers like you have With the oranges, rusts, and golds of the landscape - so magical. I've admired gardens such as yours for years, cactuspatch. NM is one of my favorite places to visit.
I bought HH plants last year and had a good bloom. They didn't freeze and are now coming back strong and beginning to bloom. Here's one of the blooms with a very happy bumblebee!
How pretty that ruffled edge is!
I do love it. I'm learning a new camera, so the light isn't too good.
The photos are great - hope folks keep posting more.
Hi Book!
That is a beautiful HH! I love that they can be wrinkled when fresh, but smooth out.
Your camera takes exellent pictures! What zoom do you have? Mine will go to 10. It's just a Kodak EasyShare Z650. I like it tho!
What kind of Malva?
Hi yourself, billyporter! I was so excited the first time my HH bloomed - I had no idea they would bloom here so well.
I bought a Rebel Xti, and the lens came with it. It's an 18-55, so I don't know the equivalent zoom - I'm still learning the camera lingo. It takes good closeups, but not too good with the birding photos. Thus, I'm going to shop for an additional lens.
The malva is sylvestrus. They are small sprouts now. I can't wait to see what it looks like.
Hi!
I love the pictures of your hollyhocks. Are they as large as they look? I have planted
some in the past but not a lot of great pretty blooms ..so this year after your pix I
am on a hunt for quality seeds.. Where do you order from? Thank you very much
Jewellspace
If I was just starting out, I would go to the local Home Depot or Lowes, or Walmart and just buy some packs of seeds there. The hollyhocks are very large in my yard and that is why I pull out tons of them, no room for that many! However, I do have some small malvas that are very pretty. Darn, the name escapes me now!
My 3 or 4 original hollyhock plants are now about 6 feet tall and about 3 1/2 feet wide. They are growing in a grouping. I didn't allow enough space for them, so if they last another winter here, I'll have to move some. There are tons of seedlings from last summer's plants. I don't know if they are perennial in my zone.
I can't wait to see what the malvas do - I received seeds from a generous DG butterfly seed exchange. They are about 4" tall right now. I'm hoping for a smaller "presence"!
My malvas only get about 3 feet or so. You have a longer season though, so they probably get larger?
3 feet would be great. I'll let you know how they do here - and whether or not the get taller than that.
There is a photo I put up earlier in this thread of some hollyhocks with a purple malva shows the smaller height. My hollyhocks are just starting to bloom this week. So far only pinks and dark wines like this one.
I have the sylvestrus, two colors, but only a picture of the darker one for some reason. Mine get 3' to 4' and take a good frost. They reseed easily. I bought one color in 1992 and ended up with a dark and light shade. I separated them because the darker is prettier. Now I don't recall seeing the lighter one last year. Eeek, I hope I didn't lose it!
When I moved to this house I found a sylvestrus planted here in the shade - it blooms well but never got more than a foot high. Hoping to seed it in a sunnier area and get billyporter's results!
I have that one planted on the east side of a garage.
Many of my pink singles are blooming now. Snapped this photo yesterday.
It's a little early here for Hollyhocks. This shot was from last summer
along my picket fence. Have many this year...we only have to wait and see how beautiful they are. A real cottage garden flower!
Better photo of that red one.
Here is a shot of the one that the cat was checking out in an earlier post.
Cactuspatch, that is a beautiful pink one!! I love the deeper eye!
Beahive, those are beautiful too! I can't wait to see your new blooms this year too. Or me, my own!
Cactus, a hollyhock looks good up close or with just a view of the whole bed. They are almost the perfect flower in their simplicity. The red would be a good shade of lipstick, but not on me :0)
It's too early for mine to bloom too, but I can wait!
Yes, they are so pretty up close or from a distance. Maybe it is our long season? Or the dry air? But mine start to look not so good at the bottom as the top grows, so I do like to plant lots of shorter things in front of them. Took this this am--Happy Mother's Day!
