holly hock question!!

I'm new to gardening and I planted some hollyhock from seed this summer. So far I have LOTS of giant leaves but no flowers. If I don't get any flowers how will it come up again next year?? I thought holly hocks were self seeding.THANK YOU!!!!

Hollyhocks are biennial - they just grow leaves the first year then bloom the second year, after which they usually die. Hang in there, your HH are gathering strength for their big show next year. And boy, do they self seed after they bloom! Hope you want lots of babies!

I think it depends on the kind of hollyhock. I planted some seeds in early June, and I'm looking at the flowers through the window right this moment. All the others I planted, some as early as April, only have leaves (and aren't very big).

This last batch of seeds was a "mix" package from Home Depot. I have two stems in bloom at the moment. One is a light pink, the other a very deep purple with yellow stamens. They're beautiful, and I was quite surprised to see them start to bud. Since I'd planted some other stuff in the same spot, I figured I had something with hollyhock-type leaves. When the blooms opened, however, there was no doubt.

In the same group are three more stems with buds. I expect them to open in the next couple of weeks. Here's a pic of the purple one (sorry if it looks red; that's the camera).



This message was edited Aug 14, 2008 4:57 PM

HI Ifarber, your Holly Hawks will die down come autumn/winter if they dont flower this year, as stated, the seeds grow foliage one year and then make lots of roots to support the tall thick stems, then the flowers appear the second year on most forms/types. however if planted really early in the spring, they sometimes manage to form flowers, but the next year are the best and largest flowers, a lot of people start new seeds off when the plants flower the second year and discard the plants after this as they have new ones ready to plant out for flowering the following year, but this is a personal choice for us all, as you are a new gardener, do remember these plants can suffer from mildew and a rust forming on the foliage, it does not stop the flowering though, this is the reason a lot of people grow their seeds fresh each year as in some instances they worry this disease will spread to other plants close by, I have never found this spreads and dont always have it on the Holly hawks, just thought I should tell you this is a common thing, they are true majestic plants to grow in the back of any border, old fashioned gardeners used to grow them close to their veg patch and they brought lots of pollinating insects to the veg and fruit to give a better yield, good luck and dont worry, I am sure you will find flowers a plenty next year. Good luck. WeeNel.

I agree they will flower probably next year. I had some poke along that I planted fall of 06 and they just now flowered this year. Talk about taking your time! They are very hardy. My seedlings survived the winter just fine in 06 and they larger plants survived just fine in 07 and we had a very bad winter that did in some of my less hardy perennials.