If your garden needs a riot of colours, growing the flower known as Hollyhocks may just be the best option. With its white, pink, cream, yellow, red and purple flowers, the hollyhock is a visual delight wherever it is planted — at a key position by the front door, the garden gate or back of borders. Hollyhock produces tall and showy, heart shaped blooms. Some varieties will grow 8-10 feet tall. Single or double blooms come in white, yellow, crimson, pink, purple, rose, and red.
Hollyhocks come in a number of different varieties, and each variety will have different features including height, longevity, and color. Depending upon the variety, hollyhocks can either be annuals, biennials or perennials, although the perennial versions can sometimes be fairly short lived compared to other perennials. Hollyhocks tend to reseed themselves and if let go can develop into hollyhock patches over time. Botanically, there are two plants listed as Hollyhock. The first is the Althaea – better known as Mallow while the plant more commonly known as a Hollyhock is an Alcea. The tall showy ones are Alcea. Althaea are shorter.
Originating in the Mediterranean and Western Asia, Hollyhocks have been grown in the west since the mid 1500’s. Reaching upto 6-8 feet ( 60-250cm) in height, Hollyhocks are used in many cut flower gardens and borders, forming an integral part of these gardens. The plants can spread to 24” ( 40-60cm) with large rough leaves that feel slightly prickly to the touch. The large, inviting blossoms are held up in large spikes.
Full sun and fertile soil will do nicely for this plant. The plant may have trouble with clay soils if those soils are wet during the winter. Hollyhocks do best in moist, well-drained areas. They prefer a rich soil with abundant organic matter and in rural areas often bloom profusely in old, moist manure piles. Add fertilizer as needed in early spring to help the plants flourish. The plants are hardy form Zone 3 thru 8. They also are heat tolerant and bloom during the hottest part of the summer. Plant them where they are in full sun, as the plant dislikes shade of any kind.
As biennials, they will not usually flower the first year from seed. They need to grow that first year, survive the winter and then send up those huge flower stalks the second year. Unfortunately, the mother plants then die after flowering is finished, although this does not always happen and many plants continue to thrive.
The easiest way to establish hollyhocks is from seeds. All of the old-fashioned varieties produce viable seed that you can collect in the fall and plant in your garden or share with friends. Seeds germinate in 2-3 weeks at 60°F.
Try spring sowing or plant in August to produce flowering plants next year. If you have the right growing area, start seeds started indoors as bedding plants for bloom the following summer. Add a general purpose fertilizer once a month. Keep soil moist, especially in dry weather.
Early in the season, pinch back the plants to promote bushier growth. But, allow plenty of air circulation to minimize the risk of plant disease. After the plants have bloomed, simply cut off the flower stalks (after the seed pods have gone brown and are splitting open). Then crush the pods to separate the seeds out and scatter them throughout the garden for next year’s blooms.
Hollyhocks must establish a root system first, and then they can produce the stalk(s) of flowers you love so much. Often they are planted in the fall to give them a chance to establish a system during the winter months. While other plants are loafing and going into dormancy, the hollyhock foliage is still green! When spring arrives, your fall planted babies will burst into growing and produce blooms that summer. This is why most people plant them in the fall, but it is not a must. It is vital that you keep your baby hocks watered regularly to ensure a strong and healthy root system to carry it through the winter cold.

Lobelia is a genus of flowering plant comprising 360–400 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions. English names include Lobelia, Asthma Weed, Indian Tobacco, Pukeweed, and Vomitwort.
Lobelia is an ideal plant to be grown in containers, after all, the extremely beautiful blue or white petals cascading over pots and out of windowboxes give a great look. Lobelias are profuse summertime bloomers. Try these compact plants as border edging, along creekbeds, in containers, or in windowsill planters. They look great in hanging baskets, too. As a matter of fact, these cool weather flowers will bloom all the way to frost. They are a popular, easy to grow annual (grows only for one year) flower native to a wide range of regions in North and South America. There are many varieties, some of which are perennials, but the most used ones in gardening are annuals. It grows 4-8 inches high and sprawls over the ground or over the sides of containers.
In terms of sun, Lobelia plants like full sun to partial shade and the plants prefer cool weather. In terms of soil conditions, Lobelias like rich, wet soil. Lobelia plants will thrive in moist to wet soil along creekbeds and streams, or in natural wetlands. Avoid frost conditions.
Established plants need very little attention. You need to keep the soil moist to wet, and if there are dry spells, water frequently. For peak performance, add a general purpose fertilizer once a month. Around mid-summer, your plants will begin to produce flowers, and will continue to do so up to the first frost. You do not need remove dead flower blooms, except for appearance. When summer’s heat or humidity causes lobelia to stop blooming, just shear the plants back by half. As long as you keep the soil moist, they’ll bloom again when cooler weather hits.

How to grow from seed: 2 ways. First method is very simple and non-time consuming, all you need to do is to scatter the seed in the area that you wish for them to grow; or you could raise them in seedling trays. Raising them in seedbeds is the best way to get uniformity of plant and also you are more able to control exactly the position that they will grow in, but takes more effort.

Medical Uses: Native Americans used lobelia to treat respiratory and muscle disorders, and as a purgative. Today it is used to treat asthma and food poisoning, and is often used as part of smoking cessation programs. It is a physical relaxant, and can serve as a nerve depressant, easing tension and panic. The species used most commonly in modern herbalism is Lobelia inflata (Indian Tobacco).
Because of its similarity to nicotine, the internal use of lobelia may be dangerous to susceptible populations, including children, pregnant women, and individuals with cardiac disease. Excessive use will cause nausea and vomiting. It is not recommended for use by pregnant women and is best administered by a practitioner qualified in its use.

Delphinium is a genus of about 250 species of annual, biennial or perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The common name, shared with the closely related genus Consolida, is Larkspur. Other names are, lark’s heel (Shakespeare), lark’s claw and knight’s spur. The scientific name is taken from Dioscorides and describes the shape of the bud, which is thought to look like a (rather fat) dolphin.
Delphiniums are treasured and sought after as planting plants because they are so beautiful. Short delphiniums can be used in the front of a garden, the Belladonna hybrids in the middle, and the tall Pacific Coast hybrids in the rear. They are excellent cut flowers, too. Tall spires of delphiniums add colour and drama to summer borders during their short flowering season. As classic cottage garden plants, they also give a strong vertical accent in groups of mixed perennials. The brilliancy of the blue color of some of the flowers cannot be surpassed. However, these plants start to lose their flowering potential after about three years, hence it is important to take cuttings.
They need full sun and a good, deep, well-drained, evenly moist soil that has a high humus content. If the soil is too acid, agricultural lime should be added. They are hardy feeders that must be supplied with compost or well-rotted manure, benefiting from feedings of a 5-10-5 fertilizer every year.
Tall cultivars need support. Have three to four stakes per plant, put in place around the plant in spring, as a starting point and monitor how fast the wind blows. Add new ties as the plant gains height.
Delphiniums and larkspur are normally harvested with one to two open flowers on the spike. Avoid flowers with mildew-infected leaves. At least one to two flowers per stem should be fully opened at the time of purchase with no sign of flower fall. Make sure stems are rinsed prior to re-cutting and arranging, so as to remove dirt and debris.

Problems with the plant: All parts of the plant contain an alkaloid delphinine and are very poisonous, causing vomiting when eaten, and death in larger amounts.
Larkspur, especially tall larkspur, is a significant cause of cattle poisoning on rangelands in the western United States. Larkspur is more common in high-elevation areas, and many ranchers will delay moving cattle onto such ranges until late summer when the toxicity of the plants is reduced.