When you mention that your seed pods are fuzzy that got me wondering. I would normally describe holly hock seeds as disc shaped almost like they are layered. I provided a site below that has alcea, hollyhock seed pod, seeds, and seedling. You will find the hollyhock in the second column. When you sow them is up to you but no you do not have to sow them now. Storage is simple, a properly dried seed can be stored in many ways. To dry the seed I would lay them flat on an open surface, on a paper towel or a paper plate. Layering them singly. I would probably allow them to dry a few days to a week maybe even 2. Once they are dry then you can store them how you want. Some store their seeds in the fridge some just use an envelope and put in a drawer. As long as the seeds are not stored in constant temperature fluctuations and not in extreme heat I think you should be ok. If you are going to plant them soon it is not like you should store them in the fridge or freezer. Though if you do not plan to use them for about 5 years I may say toss them in the fridge or freezer (I usually have more room in my freezer) once they are completely dry. My rule of thumb when planting any seed, is to plant as deep as it is wide. Seeds like poppy or other tiny seeds I do not even bother to cover those. I just toss and press. I hope that helps!!

I have a bud that just broke on one of the hybrids, from the Archeri x White Angel, it is dark purple, very very tiny flowers, maybe less than 1inch … the others have buds but nothing else has broken open yet. I’m happy to see that white parents produced color, archeri is blood red so I’m very interested now to see the open flower some have crazy leaves too, one of the berigated ones made it, the leaves look really unhealthy

Boy half a zone difference make you guys so far ahead ~ just as George (ego45) reminded me! BB just flashed her virginal gown yesterday ~ 1 so far! QF opened tons on Pops' Day ~ so thrilled & tho both Orig ES did each a quick one, our gloomy/rainy/storm days interrupted the momentum ~ got everyone in a napsy mood & clusters are still just that! Today sun did show up ~ hopefully shake everyone up! Oh but Blue Frost Serrata even in his *dip 'n dot* stage is already giving hints on the trio of colors ~ blue, lavender, pinks & loaded! T&S1 ~ that came frost bitten, is the most advanced w/ all sorts of new canes & clusters - ready to flash soon ~ in the most ideal site, the hole I prep'd last Fall. I clipped all the blooms she came in to speed up these new ones! T&S2 & T&S3 are doing fine w/ new canes & new cluster finials tho nowhere close to T&S1's #s Luis - to answer our musings on extra sun exposure ~ definitely affects bloom colors IMO based on observations on these 3 T&S planted in 3 diff exposures ~ then again I'm also considering soil diff in their 3 sites! Sorry ~ for long chit-chat! Follow ups later. OK?!

I commented on this thread a while back when I was trying to decide between the silgranite white or a darker color. I really wanted white because I thought it'd be prettier but I was afraid of the potential staining problems. Well I went for it and got the silgranite super single sink in white from home depot online. Even though the pictures don't show it, I bought the matching grate as well. I think the grate is a good investment as it protects both the sink and your dishes if you happen to drop them. It's been about 7 months now and I'm still so happy with my choice. I haven't had any problems with staining. I am careful with it as I would be with any item that cost me $300+ but I don't feel it's extreme. I always rinse out the sink after I use it and do at least a weekly clean with a liquid soft scrub unless I've done a lot of cooking. I have a bunch of microfiber cloths I got from Amazon that I use to wipe off any water spray on the counters' edge by the sink. I am meticulous about this because I have very hard water. Overall I love this sink. It's functional and beautiful.