Gardening with Gary

Gardening Advice from an Expert

Hollyhocks

Q. I bought a hollyhock which was supposed to be pink, but on the same plant I got both pink and dark purple/black flowers! Would you explain this please?

A. What you have experienced is a sport of nature! It happens a lot naturally and that is one way we get new and improved varieties of fruits, flowers, trees, shrubs and vegetables.

Simply put, it happens when the cells are dividing and all of a sudden one or more of them change to a different colors. This can result in a different color of flower and/or foliage.

The variegated foliage of African violets arose from such a sport. So did the new colors which added to the range of purple-pink-white.

Many times one plant will be totally different from its siblings. Other times, as you have experienced, only a portion of the plant will be different. You can have a bed of pink flowers and one plant will be purple, or 1/2 of one will be different, It is nothing that you did, not poor care or fertilizer, water or sunlight.

So, enjoy what we call a Fluke of Nature.

Lois writes~
This is the first year I've had 'Chater's Prize' hollyhocks. They are lovely, but only 2 out of 6 healthy plants have sent up stalks. I planted them last summer, all treated equally. Someone told me that if you deadhead them that they will put out new blossoms.

A. Yes, it is a recommended practice. I do not know why your hollyhocks have not bloomed by now. This is pretty late. Have you been watering and feeding them regularly? Check the food label and make sure it is for blooming plants, with a higher middle number in the formula. Also, are they getting nearly full sun?

Removing spent flowers, or deadheading, is a form of pruning that will tidy once-blooming plants and encourage repeat bloomers to flower again. Cut the stem of a faded flower stalk back to about 1/4 inch above the nearest leaf. If you have not gotten any flowers on those particular stalks, then cut back about 6" of the stem, back to a good healthy leaf with an axillary bud.

These members of the mallow family prefer sun or partial shade and deeply fertile soil with good drainage. Plant seeds about an eighth of an inch deep this fall, and they'll germinate in about two weeks.