Hollyhocks against an adobe wall may be Santa Fe’s signature plant. Bees and butterflies love them and they come in a multitude of colors – pinks, reds, whites, almost black but never in blue. One garden writer describes hollyhocks as “elegant in a wayward, random fashion”.
Though advertised as “drought tolerant and heat loving” the best displays seem to require a bit more of the gardener’s attention. They appreciate a well-drained rich soil and watering in dry weather plus shelter from wind. (Disregard the local Cerrillos Hollyhockus blooming smack in the middle of a concrete patch nourished only by exhaust fumes.) Hollyhocks can be either biennial or short-lived perennials. They self-seed and can be prone to rust.
The hollyhock (Alcea rosea) is a member of the hibiscus (malvaceae) family, the same family to which cotton and okra belong. The Anglo-Saxon name for mallow, also a member of the malvaceae family, is a closely related species used medicinally throughout Europe. The species was known as “hoc”, and several sources relate that it became known as the hoc from Jerusalem; the “holy hoc”. In Mexico hollyhocks are known as varitas de San José: little staffs of Joseph.
Hollyhocks have a rather murky history. It seems they’ve been in gardens for so long (since the early Middle Ages) that no one can connect them with any former wild species. The hollyhock was introduced to the western world during the early days of Chinese trade, most likely during the beginning of the Christian era. The Crusaders brought the plant back to England during the Middle Ages.
The Victorians were incessant plant collectors ranging throughout the Empire (and remember the sun never set) looking for exotic, new, and variations of existing plants. Consequently, hollyhocks became a favorite in Victorian gardens as new colors and the double flowered forms were introduced from China.
Thomas Jefferson grew an antique variety at Monticello and the German poet, Goethe, had a double row of them lining the drive to his house. Frank Lloyd designed Hollyhock House, his first Los Angeles project, with stylized representations of the flower on the roofline, walls, columns, planters and furniture. The Hollyhocks Club, a Prohibition Era Minneapolis club, played host to the Dillinger Gang and had a quick escape tunnel from the basement to the cliff. Hollyhocks - a flower with a past.