Hollyhock seeds - magnificent classics of traditional cottage gardens
Hollyhocks are among the most striking flowering plants of traditional cottage gardens. With their tall, upright flower spikes and closely spaced individual blooms, they create eye-catching accents along walls and fences and at the back of summer borders.
Hollyhock seeds offer a wide variety of colours and flower forms: from white, yellow and apricot through pink and red to deep, almost black shades. Depending on the variety, the flowers may be single, semi-double or densely double. This creates plants with very different effects - sometimes natural and open, sometimes lush and almost nostalgic.
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Hollyhocks and their long garden tradition
The common hollyhock Alcea rosea belongs to the mallow family and has been cultivated in Central Europe as an ornamental plant for centuries. It is also known as garden hollyhock. It is closely related to the true mallows of the genus Malva, but botanically belongs to its own genus, Alcea.
Towering flower spikes in a wide range of colours
Many classic hollyhocks reach impressive heights and develop long flower spikes on which the blooms gradually open from bottom to top. This keeps the plant attractive for weeks and adds strong vertical structure to the garden.
Alongside the classic common hollyhock, there are other species such as fig-leaved hollyhock Alcea ficifolia and Russian hollyhock Alcea rugosa. They differ in features such as leaf structure, flower colour and lifespan, broadening the range of this traditional group of plants.
From cottage gardens to natural gardens
Single-flowered hollyhocks are readily visited by bees, bumblebees and other insects. At the same time, their tall, slender growth gives them the distinctive appearance associated with rural gardens and historic plantings.
Whether planted individually against a sunny house wall, in loose groups along a fence or as a striking backdrop in a border, hollyhocks combine height, colour and an unmistakably traditional garden character.
