Alcea rosea Halo Pink - Hollyhock

The Alcea rosea Halo Pink is the latest addition to the 'Halo' hollyhock series, which is a beautiful collection of perennials that are more long-lived than the classic varieties and that are charcaterized by their large, single flowers with their contrasting central halos. In the second half of the summer, it displays corollas that are tightly packed along tall stems and that are very broad, white tinged with pale pink with a broad purplish-pink halo encircling a chartreuse yellow centre. This cultivar also has attractive, deeply lobed leaves, reminiscent of those of fig trees, that are more resistant to rust. Give it sunshine, well-drained soil that is not too dry and the shelter of a wall or of a low-lying bower of shrubs to protect its columns of flowers from strong winds.

Resulting from years of breeding and selection, the hollyhock 'Halo Pink' is derived fro Althaeae rosea and its many common names have adopted all the different accents of our French regions.

Of the family Malvaceae, 'Halo Pink' not only shares genes with this species native to Asia Minor but also with the fig-leaved hollyhock (Alcea ficifolia), native to Siberia, from which it takes its foliage which really resembles that of the fig-tree. The variety 'Halo Pink' is part of an improved series developed by the seed company Thompson & Morgan. It is an unbranched, upright plant that can reach 1.5 m to 1.8 m in height. It forms a branched rosette of stems covered with rough, distinctly and deeply lobed leaves, from which up to 5 robust, fast-growing flower stems emerge. These spike-shaped inflorescences are covered with many large buds that bloom, from bottom to top, into large, 10 to 12 cm wide, simple flowers that only live one day. Throughout this period, they will attract bees and butterflies to your garden. The flowers then give way to a large number of fruit, filled with seeds that spontaneously reseed in the most unexpected areas, which the plant seems to choose by itself: at the foot of walls, in poor and stony soil, in wall crevices, etc... Plants obtained in this manner, are generally very sturdy and can surprise curious gardeners.

Widespread in abandoned gardens or in wastelands in our countryside, the hollyhock is often grown at the back of beds or placed against a wall to protect it from strong winds. The fresh colour of this selection will allow you to make superb associations with the airy blooms of perennials such as gauras, sages, bellflowers, beebalms, mulleins or Royal lily for its fragrance, all of which are easy to grow in most of our gardens. Hollyhock is an edible plant: the flower buds can be eaten raw in salads and the young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked.

Hollyhock is both an ornamental and medicinal plant. Its seeds are used to produce a siccative oil. Rich in mucilages, it is a great demulcent, emollient, laxative, aperitif and it also relieves dry coughs. Its properties are nevertheless attenuated compared to those of its cousin the common marshmallow (Althea officinalis).