Food-Gardening Lessons From A Wartime Victory Garden

Visit the Gro Shop! merch hat Shop Merch

Gather Free Hollyhock Seed

Hollyhock - Maureen Gilmer
Just below these hollyhock flowers the round seed capsules already forming while above the flowers buds have yet to open.

Hollyhocks have long been America’s favorite flower for country gardens because the Hollyhock seed can be gathered and sown for free. Althea rosea is a biennial, growing from seed the first year with modest blooms, then the plants come back from the roots the second year for a far more magnificent showing. Therefore sow hollyhock every year. The first flowers will be going to seed by the time the last ones open at the top the stalk. Down low you’ll find capsules of small disk-like seeds. As each capsule matures the outer covering becomes fragile and papery when the seed is ready to be gathered to store. They’ll be ready for spring sowing in Black Gold Seedling Mix for an even bigger display next year.

About Maureen Gilmer

Maureen Gilmer is celebrating her 40th year in California horticulture and photojournalism as the most widely published professional in the state. She is the author of 21 books on gardening, design and the environment, is a widely published photographer, and syndicated with Tribune Content Agency. She is the weekly horticultural columnist for the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs and contributes to Desert Magazine, specializing on arid zone plants and practices for a changing climate. She works and lives in the remote high desert for firsthand observations of native species. Her latest book is The Colorful Dry Garden published by Sasquatch Books. When not writing or photographing she is out exploring the desert on her Arabian horse. She lives in Morongo Valley with her husband Jim and two rescue pit bulls. When not writing or photographing she is usually out riding her quarter horse.

Leave a Reply

Content Disclaimer:

This site may contain content (including images and articles) as well as advice, opinions and statements presented by third parties. Sun Gro does not review these materials for accuracy or reliability and does not endorse the advice, opinions, or statements that may be contained in them. Sun Gro also does not review the materials to determine if they infringe the copyright or other rights of others. These materials are available only for informational purposes and are presented “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement or other information is at your own risk. In no event shall Sun Gro Horticulture Distribution, Inc. or any of its affiliates be liable to you for any inaccuracy, error, omission, fact, infringement and the like, resulting from your use of these materials, regardless of cause, or for any damages resulting there from.