Alcea rosea Fiesta Time - Hollyhock

The Hollyhock or Alcea rosea Fiesta Time is a more biennial than perennial variety, with a compact habit that is more resistant to wind and well-suited for pot cultivation. It also has the ability to flower in the first year. Its flowers are double, cherry pink to red with white margins, all these shades combining on curiously fringed petals. This astonishing variety offers prolonged flowering, on stiff and sturdy stems, abundantly filled with buds. Whether perennial or biennial, it is very easy to combine in perennial borders and spectacular in large pots. It tolerates ordinary but well-drained soil, even poor, chalky and stony soil.

The Hollyhock is also known by its Latin name Althaea rosea, and its vernacular names adopt all the accents of our regions: it is called Passe-rose, Rose à bâton, Rose papale or primerose. Belonging to the mallow family, it originates from Asia Minor and is often naturalized in natural gardens, fallow fields, and mounds of soil. 'Fiesta Time' is a shorter variety, with very double flowers, derived from this wild plant. It is a compact, well-branched plant that will not exceed 90 cm (35in) in height. It forms a rosette of rounded, hairy and rough leaves, from which a strong flower stalk emerges, growing very quickly. These spike-like inflorescences are covered with large buds that open in a staggered manner from June to August, from bottom to top, into large, very double flowers whose texture wonderfully reflects light. They display a cherry pink to intense red color, margined with white. The petals are fringed on their periphery. 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 in the most unexpected areas, seemingly chosen by the plant itself: at the base of walls, in poor and stony soils, in wall crevices, etc. Its taproot system makes transplantation delicate, especially for well-established plants.

Widely spread in abandoned gardens or fallow fields in our countryside, the Hollyhock is often cultivated at the back of borders or against a wall that protects it from strong winds. The vibrant colour and compact habit of this variety will allow you to create superb combinations with light perennials such as gauras, perennial flax, damask nigellas, or paniculate gypsophiles, either in the ground or in a large container on the terrace. This plant is said to tolerate juglone, a substance secreted by walnut roots; you could try sowing it at the base of a walnut tree, if there is sufficient light. One can attempt to tame this Fiesta Time hollyhock in large pots on the terrace. The hollyhock is an edible plant, the floral buds can be consumed raw in salads and the young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked.

The black-flowered hollyhock (Alcea rosea Nigra) is both ornamental and medicinal. Its seeds yield an oil with drying properties. Rich in mucilage, it has soothing, emollient, expectorant, laxative, and appetizing properties, although less pronounced than those of its cousin, the Marshmallow (Althea officinalis) used by herbalists.