Alcea rosea Apple Blossom - Double Apple Blossom Hollyhock

Alcea rosea 'Apple Blossom' is a wildly romantic variety. It unfurls its powdery-pink flowers all summer long. The blooms resemble large, tousled pompoms, and are carried by sturdy and majestic stems. They bloom continuously from the base of the stem to the top. Often grown as a biennial, this graceful giant thrives in poor, rocky soils, is drought-resistant, and prefers sunny locations.

Alcea rosea belongs to the Malvaceae family. It is native to Asia Minor and is often naturalised in wild gardens, fallow lands, and on mounds of earth. 'Apple Blossom' is a variety of the Chater's Double series with very double flowers, derived from this wild species. It is an upright, usually unbranched plant that can reach a height of 1.5 to 2m (5 to 7ft). It forms a rosette of rounded leaves from which a robust floral stem emerges. It has a very rapid growth rate. The spike-like inflorescences are covered with large buds that open in an overlapping manner from June to August. They bloom from bottom to top, into large, double flowers whose texture wonderfully reflects the light. They display a soft powdery-pink hue reminiscent of apple tree blossoms. Throughout this period, they will attract bees and butterflies to your garden. The flowering gives way to numerous fruits filled with seeds that self-sow spontaneously in the most unexpected areas: at the base of walls, in poor and rocky soils, and crevices in walls.

Widely found in abandoned gardens or fallow land, it is often grown in the back of borders or against a wall that protects it from strong winds. The pastel colour of this variety will create superb combinations with dark or light, simple or double forms. This plant is said to be tolerant of juglone, a substance secreted by walnut roots, so you can consider planting this hollyhock at the base of a walnut tree, if there is sufficient light, however. It is an edible plant; the flower buds can be consumed raw in salads and the young leaves raw or cooked.

It is both ornamental and medicinal. Oil with drying properties is obtained from its seeds. Rich in mucilage, it has soothing, emollient, expectorant, laxative, and appetising properties, albeit attenuated compared to those of its cousin, Althea officinalis.