The hollyhocks, Alcea rosea, have begun to shoot up their tall spires. Beautiful, big flowers bloom from these stalks. In New Mexico I was amazed at how their dried stalks of laddered buttons had become a desert icon used in interior design. Ours, labelled "black,” have just begun to bloom. The hollyhock grows just as well on the roadside and I am always saddened when their fortnight of joyful exuberance is cut short by the highway department mowing crews.
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When I first got to spend a summer near some hollyhocks, I discovered that not only are their flowers a great attractor of pollinating insects, but their seeds are beloved of birds! Lots of friendly creatures come visit the hollyhocks -- what hospitable plants!
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