WHAT?! One of your idiot friends cut them down. WHY?! I think the word "friend" needs to be removed from the equation unless there is a REALLY good reason for it. Like one of Hollyhocks came alive and attacked them or something. I've always heard they have a secret agenda, ya know. *wink wink*
I think they'll be fine, as long as there was no damage to the more important parts underground. They'll probably even put on new growth in a couple weeks, but no more flowers.
Some friend you got there.

He was one of my husbands friends... and when I confronted him and told him he was on my "hit" list because he destoryed my flowers he had this dumb a*s look on his face and said he thought that they were "weeds".... He truly is an idiot to think that 7 foot tall flowering plants are weeds... anyways he is no longer welcome at our house.

OMG, I feel your pain - actually had a similar experience with one of my DH's friend destroying my entire vegetable garden! My holly hocks have been blooming since March and when the tall stalks are spent I cut them off without disburbing the plant/roots and eventually they will sent up another stalk and bloom. In your climate though I'm not certain if you'll have enough warm weather left for regrowth to occur this season. Your holly hock pics are very pretty. I especially like the pale pink/white. Sorry for your loss this year.

I'd ban him from the neighbourhood. My neighbour once weeded mine out of the perrenial border along her property. Not that they were on her property, or that the garden needed to be weeded.......

I just can't even imagine someone cutting or pulling out ANY plants from someone elses gardens without asking first. That is such a shame. You had some really beautiful hollyhocks there but the good news is they will be back next year....

Lynne

MrMorton, you crack me up!!! Got a strange "deja vu" feeling just then, must have said that before! ;o) I can just see my giant HH's reaching over and swallowing someone, a la "Audrey" in "Little Shop of Horrors".

Seriously, they will come back. I whacked mine back hard about 2 weeks ago, and they are ready to bloom again. If he whacked them completely to the ground, you might not get flowers again this year, but they'll be fine next year.

My FIL weeded out a bed of mine while I was out shopping. He pulled up my columbines and crazy daisy. I was able to salvage the columbines, but the daisies I never found. He really did think he was helping, though. I tried not to scream. He helps my MIL in the garden, but she doesn't have those kind of plants. So, it was a sweet gesture, but, AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH! LOL!

Your HH's were absolutely beautiful! They will come back next year. I'm glad you took some pics!

HW

Sorry for the loss of the blooms--that's a darn shame. I'm glad you banned the joker from your home. Good call! Like the others said, they'll come back next year just fine. I accidentally whacked some of mine to the ground in the past and they popped back up the following spring.

I know it's frustrating to lose the blooms though. Thanks for sharing the loss and the pics (they're great by the way). It's nice folks here share Good Gardening News and Bad Gardening News.

Take care and keep us posted!
Grant

OK - at the risk of everyone finding out what a novice I truly am ...

My HHs don't come back every year - I had to plant last year for this year, this year for next ...

What am I doing wrong???? I want mine to come back every year, too!

Hi Ilsa and all,

I was waiting a day to see if anyone had a better answer than one I could provide. The lifecycle of hollyhocks is more complicated than it might seem, just because there are so many different types. Some types really do function as annuals (sprout in spring, flower, and then croak), some types are truly perennial (sprout in mid-summer, survive the winter, and continue to flower for following summers (though often only for a few before croaking)), and some types are biennial (sprouting mid-summer, surviving winter and then flowering/croaking the next summer).

That being said, some types vary depending on the climate acting more perennial-y in some climates and more biennial-y in others, so it's hard to be sure when getting a garden population going.

From your description, it sounds like yours may be the biennial type (plants the first summer, survive winter, and then croak after flowering), but even so, you should get seeds to fall to the ground in mid summer to sprout and become little plants before winter. Are you not getting any seeds? Have those would help you get a recurring population started.

Most of mine are perennial types, but I couldn't be certain since I always end up with so many that I don't clearly "track" any one plant, but there are always a few that croak every now and then, but always seedlings to replace them.

There are annual types which might work for you (plant super early in spring and get blooms and seeds by end of summer), though I don't think they get as large as the biennial or perennial types.

If you are specifically buying perennial types, hopefully someone else can chime in as well. I'm pretty good with hardiness from USDA zones 11 up to around 6 or so, but colder than that I have to defer to others on specific winter hardiness of plants.

Let us know what you think!
Take care and keep on trying...hollyhocks are certainly worth it aren't they?
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: **Annual** type of hollyhock from T&M

Grant - thanks for the info & the link! Guess I'm just not planting the "right" kind.

Ilsa

I was sent some hollyhock seeds from someone on Gardenweb.
I planted just a few seeds, and am saving some seeds to start
in the spring. I did not want to foolishly plant all seeds,
and not have them germinate because of extreme heat.

I don't even know if seeds have to be cold stratified.
So, I have some seeds for next spring to sow as well.

Mary z 5b KS

Mary, you are smart! I never plant all of any of my seeds either. Good to try various ones at various times just as insurance. Like you, I'm sometimes concerned about if seeds need to be stratified. Some seeds I've kept safe and sound indoors which don't sprout in spring, and others from the same batch I toss to the ground and they sprout the following spring (moneyplants, Lunaria were like that for me).

I like the way you think! :)

Happy gardening,
Grant

Does anyone have a link to HH seeds/types? The seed companies certainly don't tell you what type you're buying. I ordered one plant of Barnyard Mix and it's growing like crazy (no blooms) just spreading out but getting no height. What type is this? I assume it will come back in the spring and bloom??! I'm zone 4b.

MeMo

Hi MeMo and all,

Good question! I wish the seed companies did a better job of telling us which types we're buying too, though truth is climate has something to do with it too so they probably try to stay general. Some types that are perennial in mild-winter areas often act like biennials in cold winter areas, and so on. Usually at least the truly annual types are called out as "annuals" compared to the biennial/perennial type. The barnyard type I've purchased from Wayside in years past were true perennials for me.

Even the most perennial of the perennial types often die out after a few years of blooming like crazy, so it's good to let some of the seed self-sow as insurance.

I'll go snoop for a website though--it would be good to know exactly which type is which when purchasing! :)

Take care,
Grant

Thanks for all info Grant,
I planted some fresh seeds this year, and none came up,
so I was thinking they needed to see the cold. The info you
gave on them was really helpful. I wanted to buy the Barnyard ones from Wayside too, but was worried because
of the last ones. Really heplful info!

Haziemoon

Thanks Grant,
I can't tell you how many seeds I have wasted because I just
don't know what they need best to survive. Like the sweet
pea vines I planted late in june this year. I found out
watching Paul James "The Gardener Guy" that sweetpea's like
to be planted in spring and germinate in temps around the
55 F degree mark. Well, better luck next year! :-)

Same problems with Delphiniums and Foxgloves. I have seeds
yet to be planted that I will throw in the fridge for a few
weeks, or toss caution into the wind and throw them in
the garden dirt and hopefully have germination next spring.
Mary in windy, hot KS

Thanks for the info, Grant. From what you said then I'll assume that the Barnyard Mix will be biennial for me up north. Can you share with me the best way to get them to re-seed? I have read leave them as is over winter and also cut them and lay on the ground when they are done blooming. I tried the cut and lay method and got nothing. I guess that one was annual but I don't know why it didn't re-seed.

Thanks!
MeMo

Hi everyone,

Well first let me offer a disclaimer that I'm not a hollyhock expert by any means. I have carried hollyhock seeds around from garden to garden and climate to climate since I was a kid though (lived most of my life in the Pacific Northwest, but also spent several years in the midwest and several in Phoenix as well...and carried some of the same seeds to all climates with (relative) success).

I think the best way to have them self sow is to just let the seed fall to the ground when it's ripe. Some will sprout right away, and a few will sprout the following spring. If your plants are acting like biennials, plant plants for two years in a row, and let them self sow each time they make seeds, and then you'll have some that are flowering each year since they'll be staggered from each other.

Eventually they just get sort of randomized in the garden and you'll end up with some in bloom each year.

Obviously if you grow the true annual types, you need to save their seed in the fall and replant them in the spring. Also, if you have different types you can get hybrids and then have all sorts of random behavior, heh heh, but I consider that a pretty good thing as long as I have flowers each year.

As an aside, the color mix of mine has changed depending on climate. In hot and sunny Phoenix I really liked the brighter colors, so made sure those got favored treatment and more attention to seed saving. Now that I'm back in the gentle light of the Pacific Northwest, the lighter pink, rose, and white types will probably get the Preferred Treatment.

Take care and keep us posted on how your hollyhocks do.
Grant, watching a new crop of seedlings pop up right now.