Nature abhors a monoculture, but not necessarily a monochrome culture. Against a leafy green backdrop, a single color stands out dramatically—particularly when that hue is white. Here are 15 of our favorite white-on-white plant palettes for a garden bed: For more monochromatic(ish) gardens, see: 11 Ideas to Steal for a Moonlight Garden Now Trending: 9 […]
Tag: hollyhocks
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Best Flower Seeds to Sow in Fall for a Spring Bloom
I love this plant for its unique flower and even more unique seed heads that look fantastic added to dried flower arrangements. In mild climates, direct-sow the minuscule black seeds onto well-drained soil in a sunny or mostly sunny spot, and then keep the soil consistently moist. Love-in-a-mist seeds require light to germinate, so be careful not to cover them up when planting. Bonus: these seeds readily re-seed in my garden every year.
Nasturtium (Self-Seeding Annual)
Above: Photograph by Marie Viljoen. Another easy-to-grow favorite. I adore how nasturtiums effortlessly scramble about the garden and pump out colorful flowers and lily pad-like leaves. These hardy annuals prefer a sunny spot, tolerate poor soil, and grow well in containers or trailing from raised beds. Some gardeners recommend soaking and scarifying these hard seeds for better germination, but I’ve never done that and have had total success. I encourage my nasturtium family to come back year after year by re-scattering the seeds upon pruning them back.
Hollyhock (Biennial)
Above: Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer for Gardenista. Every year I grow some hollyhocks from seeds saved from last year or acquired from generous friends and family. Not to be blasé, but I generally just throw theses flat seeds about at the end of fall, all willy nilly. But I suppose the “proper” way is to sow them a week before last frost at just ¼ inch deep and about 2 feet apart. I find that hollyhocks thrive in a sunny to partly sunny spot. Too much shade and they bloom way less and lean too much. Also know that most hollyhocks are biennials, meaning the first year the plant just puts out leaves and then flowers the next year.
Iceland Poppy (Annual in Warm Climates; Perennial in Cool Climates)
Above: Photograph by Amy the Nurse via Flickr. Differing from California poppies due to native origin, use, and flower type, Iceland poppies thrive in cool temperatures, appreciate regular water, and their papery translucent flowers are great for adding to arrangements. You can get a head start on your cutting garden by planting these seeds about four to six weeks before your average first fall frost, or in early to mid-fall in milder climates. Plant the tiny seeds in a sunny spot in well-draining soil and remember not to cover the seeds as they need light to germinate. Theses poppies can be slow to germinate, so be patient. I especially like the Champagne Bubbles mix.
Milkweed (Perennial)
Above: Photograph by Marie Viljoen. By now I’m sure you know how critical milkweed is to the survival of the monarch butterfly as it is the only plant the caterpillars will eat. Help our winged friends and put these seeds on your late fall planting list. After the first frost, scatter seeds directly on the soil surface in a sunny, well-drained location, and then press them lightly into the soil. If the ground gets dry, lightly water the seeds. Just be sure to choose a milkweed that’s native to your area. Why? Planting non-native types of milkweed risks the health of the butterfly.
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How to Identify and Control Hollyhock Weevils | Gardener’s Path
Rhopalapion longirostre
My grandma loved hollyhocks, they were her idea of the quintessential cottage garden species and she would make dolls out of the flowers when she was a kid.
But she stopped growing them because, as she said, they always looked ragged.
They looked that way because they were devoured by hollyhock weevils (Rhopalapion longirostre, formerly Apion longirostre) every single year.
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When I bought my first house, I wanted to remind grandma of her childhood, so I decided to hollyhocks.
The first year, mine too looked absolutely ragged. I examined the plants closely and noticed little grayish-black bugs with super long noses crawling all over. And I mean all over, my plants were positively teeming with them.
That’s when I started my mission to do battle with hollyhock weevils. If I can beat them, you can. In this guide, I’ll explain how by going over the following:
What Are Hollyhock Weevils?
Hollyhock weevils are small beetles originally from Europe that eat the foliage of hollyhock plants starting in the summer and then lay their eggs in the flowers.
Not only do they damage the foliage and leave the flowers looking ragged, but they also eat the seeds – a major problem if you are relying on these short-lived perennials to self-seed for the next year.
These pests don’t attack any other species, only hollyhocks, so you don’t need to worry about them damaging your other plants.
They can be found throughout North America, Mexico, Europe, and the UK.
Identification
If you have quarter- or eighth-inch-long beetles crawling all over your hollyhocks, you’re probably looking at a bunch of hollyhock weevils. They’re extremely common.
Look closer, and you’ll see tannish or orange legs and a long snout. The females tend to be larger than the males, and their snouts, technically known as proboscis, can be equal in length to their bodies.
If you don’t see the beetles themselves, look for shot holes throughout the leaves.
It looks similar to flea beetle damage, but flea beetles don’t trouble hollyhocks. So if you see lots of tiny holes, you’re probably going to find lots of beetles nearby.
The leaves can be so full of holes that they look like lace.
Biology and Life Cycle
The adults emerge at the start of summer, a few weeks before the buds start to develop on your hollyhocks. Once the buds develop, the weevils will flock to those and feed.
If you want to teach the kiddos about the birds and the bees, this is a great insect to start with. At any given time, you can usually find a couple of these weevils mid-coitus.
After mating, the smaller males will often stick around to guard the female from other males.
When the flowers start to fade, the females will chew deep into the seed pods and lay their eggs. Sometimes, you’ll find them snuggled inside the sepals, as well. A few days later, the eggs hatch and the grubs emerge. These are white with brown heads.
These grubs feed inside the space between the sepals and seed pods, and inside the seed pods.
They then pupate, and a new generation of adults emerges.
The adults feed on any remaining seeds and leaves before moving into the ground or under leaf debris nearby to overwinter. A few late developing grubs might hide out in the remaining seed pods and pupate the following spring.
As the weather warms up and new plants start to develop in the spring, the adults emerge from the ground and start feeding on the young plants. They’ll eat young shoots, foliage, and emerging buds.
Organic Control Methods
I like being able to bring people good news when we’re talking about pests, and it rarely happens. But there’s definitely good news when it comes to dealing with hollyhock weevils.
They’re pretty easy to control. Insecticides work well, but you can also just knock them off the plant. Let’s talk about how to do that, first.
Physical
Handpicking is highly effective and takes nothing more than a bit of your time.
This is the method I use, and people have commented on how good my hollyhock flowers look, devoid of all those holey, ragged leaves and petals that plague many specimens.
My process is to take a bucket or wide bowl filled with soapy water outside and knock the weevils off the plant so they land in it. I’ll tilt the buds over the bucket and tap them and stretch the leaves, giving them a shake.
You can’t do this just once and call it a day, you have to keep doing it regularly.
I will handpick the weevils every day for a week when I first notice them, and then on a weekly basis until August.
The first year was the worst and it took me a few minutes to remove all the weevils from each plant, but with consistency the populations end up getting smaller and smaller. These days, I can do a row of a dozen hollyhocks in five minutes or so.
Five minutes a week for hole-free plants? It takes that long to spray a pesticide!
Allegedly, the weevils only feed at night, but that’s not my experience – I find them munching away in the middle more often than not. Still, if you want to be sure you’re getting them, go hunting in the evening.
If you don’t want to carry a bucket or bowl, no problem. It’s exhausting if you’re out there for a while.
You can also just hold a piece of paper or cardboard underneath the part of the plant you’re shaking and dump the weevils into soapy water from the paper or cardboard.
Biological
Birds and spiders love many kinds of insects, including hollyhock weevils. Parasitic wasps will attack them, as well.
Encouraging these natural predators will make a dent in an infestation, but it won’t eliminate them altogether.
Having these critters around your garden will help you out in other ways as well. Birds, spiders, and other natural predators keep many pest populations in the garden under control.
The best way to encourage natural predators is to make your garden a nice welcoming place.
Growing a diversity of plant species that bloom at different times is the first step. This can help to attract pollinators as well!
Having a water source like a birdbath and adding bird feeders also helps.
Organic Pesticides
If you’re going to use a pesticide spray, don’t apply it when pollinators are out and active, and don’t spray the flowers directly. Make sure you target the leaves and stems.
These pests haven’t developed a resistance to pesticides, and pretty much any product will kill them.
Neem oil, horticultural oil, insecticidal soap, spinosad, and pyrethrins are all effective.
I usually avoid using pesticides, even organic ones, unless I’m having a really bad year or I can’t get out often enough to remove the pests by hand, but I’ve found that pyrethrins work best for me.
You can grab Monterey Bug Buster-O at Arbico Organics in eight- or 16-ounce containers.
Monitor your plants in the spring for the first signs of feeding and start spraying.
It’s best to do all your spraying before the flowers form, both to protect pollinators and to get on top of an infestation before the weevils have a chance to lay their eggs.
You might need to repeat spray every few weeks or if you have a stubborn or particuarly large infestation.
Chemical Pesticide Control
I don’t recommend using chemical pesticides to control hollyhock weevils.
These pests don’t kill the plant and they can be controlled easily using methods described above that aren’t nearly as damaging to the surrounding environment and beneficial insects.
Plus, many pests can develop resistance to pesticides, so it’s wise to reserve the use of chemicals for when we really need them.
Make Your Hollyhocks Shine
I’m a fan of lace, but not when it comes to my hollyhock plants.
As easygoing as these flowers are, chances are that if you don’t keep on top of a weevil infestation, you’ll find your plants looking decidedly ragged.
The good news is that the damage is mostly cosmetic and these pests are fairly easy to get rid of. Which method are you going to use to deal with your problem? Let us know in the comments section below!
And if you want to continue on your hollyhock-growing journey, check out these guides next:
Kristine Lofgren
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A Guide to Planting Hollyhocks
There are lots of signs that summer has arrived—children get out of school, otherwise normal men get out of regular clothes and into lime green golf pants, and, in many gardens, the weeds get out of hand.
To me summer means hollyhocks. Flower fads come and go like UFO sitings, but hollyhocks, those tall, lanky members of the mallow family, remain popular.
In Old English “hock” is synonymous with “mallow”. The mallow plants that returned from the Middle East with the Crusaders were called “holy” or “holly” hocks.Whatever the name, the plants and their bright flowers were a hit in the color-starved Middle Ages.
In America, the common hollyhock (Alcea rosea) could easily claim membership in the D.A.R., having arrived with the colonists. As almost everyone knows, Thomas Jefferson grew them at Monticello. As a few people know, Celia Thaxter, late 19th century gardener and poet, grew them in her famed beds on Appledore Island, off the New Hampshire coast, where they were immortalized by American Impressionist painter Childe Hassam.
Seeds and plants have been available from catalog vendors since the advent of mail order. As I recall, a couple of years ago, both White Flower Farm, Wayside Gardens, and the venerable English firm Thompson & Morgan all featured hollyhock cultivars on catalog covers.
Hollyhocks were the first plants that I grew as a child, mostly because there was a small stand of them established in our backyard, and the seeds were easy to collect and sow. I did not know at the time that common hollyhocks are biennial, producing vegetative growth the first year after they are planted and flowers in the second year.
Fortunately, the plants in our backyard did what hollyhocks do best—self-seeding—and we had flowers every year. Our hollyhocks were the single variety, with white blossoms marked by dark red “eyes”. I watered them religiously, but otherwise, the hollyhocks grew unattended in a rather exposed spot just behind the sandbox. One year a rabbit made her nest between the roots of the biggest plant, undoubtedly amending the soil regularly with organic material.
My current garden is home to two different species, fig-leaf hollyhock (Alcea ficifolia) and the common variety. I hasten to add that I inherited my plants from the previous owner, who did not live here long enough to see them bloom. The common hollyhocks, leaning artistically against the unpainted back fence, are pink doubles. The blossoms remind me of the tissue flowers that we used to make on rainy days when I was a child.
The less common fig-leaf variety stands on the opposite side of my upper garden, in front of one of the lattice-work panels that camouflages the understructure supporting my back porch. It is just now producing medium size blossoms in a wonderful shade of pale yellow. Every time I look at my Alcea ficifolia I renew my belief in serendipity. I have wanted one for years, and somehow never got around to ordering it from the catalogs. Now I feel as if I have gotten the proverbial free lunch.
The problem with all the hollyhocks is that their stems and foliage are, to put it frankly, rather ugly. The leaves, whether they are rounded or incised, are large and coarse. The stems are tall and hairy. To add bad to worse, the plants are susceptible to hollyhock rust, which makes rusty brown splotches on the leaves. To my knowledge, no hybridizer has been able to come up with a more elegant looking plant.
Perhaps that is just as well. After all, hollyhocks in the country don’t have to worry about elegance. There is a patch of common hollyhock growing by an old garage near our summer cottage. These plants have been self-seeding for generations and are the main adornment to a ramshackle property that has been for sale for at least 25 years. The blossoms provide so much relief to the eye, that nobody even notices the ugly leaves.
In city gardens, you can plant things in front of hollyhocks, such as coreopsis or lady’s mantle or even big pots of red geraniums to cover up those less-than-perfect legs. After the plants have bloomed, wait until the seed pods dry out, then collect the seeds, or if you are lazy, let them self-sow. Afterwards, cut down the stalks. With hollyhocks as with life, you can emphasize the beauty and minimize the ugliness if you just make a little effort.
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Elisabeth Ginsburg
Frederick Leeth
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