Alcea rosea - Hollyhock

A group of well grown Hollyhocks in bloom is worth going to see. It is really the color that we look for, because the leaves are large, coarse and grow mostly in clumps at the base of the plant. The long spikes of flowers grow from. 5 feet to 8 feet high and there are usually from five to nine blossoms in bloom on each well grown stalk. The average size is about 2 inches or 3 inches across, but 5-inch blooms can be had if good attention is given. The colors range from white to almost black and include shades of pink, flesh, rose-pink, salmon-rose, golden yellow, canary-yellow, dark red, purple-crimson, dark maroon, white and combinations of practically all these colors with either white centers or white margins. Linnaeus, who named this plant, used both Alcea (Latin form) and Althea(Greek form) from the Greek word for 'to cure'.