Said the happy and droning tipsy bee;
The rose may blush as I hasten by,
The lily may hang her head and die:
But oh ! at their jealous pangs I mock,
Mine be the juice of the hollyhock—
To sip the sweets of the hollyhock—
The tipsy sweets of the hollyhock;
Mine, mine, mine the juice of the hollyhock!"
I can't grow the standard hollyhocks. Too much shade. Sad, sad, sad.
But I dream of having them as I carefully examine all the varieties in the 2014 seed catalogs and the 19th century articles on new varieties!
Personally, I hate the doubles. To me they look like wadded up kleenex.
Hollyhocks are just so in-your-face happy looking. You can't miss them when they are around. They cry out to be in children's book illustrations!
And, as I have sampled the web for hollyhock info, I see that many, many other people love them, too. Dozens of blogs have spoken of them, their history and their culture. An absolutely wonderful 6 part blog article on hollyhocks from Pomona Belvedere at tulipsinthewoods.com covers it with delightful eloquence and practicality. I'll list a few more at the end of this post. What I have to add today to this fine body of hollyhock information is a few photos.
Wow!!!!
Links:
Landreth Seeds - brief history and 21st century growing instructions (This is the original company established over 100 years ago though.)
Swallowtail Seeds - 36 varieties!
tulipsinthewoods.com - a special treat, on hollyhocks and many other plants in her garden
1891 - Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener and Home Farmer -
