Growing hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) in the garden is the goal of many gardeners, who remember these impressive flowers from their youth.
The flower stalks of hollyhocks can reach heights of 2.5m and they can tower above a garden, adding a lovely vertical element to your yard.
Though Alet Farmer, of Homestead, can now agree on the beauty this flower has added to her garden, she didn’t expect it.
The flower was first noticed by Farmer’s gardener, who convinced her to keep the strange plant to see what it grew into.
“He has a natural green thumb and was eager to see what this plant was, as he had never seen it before,” Farmer explained.
The two had to wait months for the final result as the hollyhock began to grow last winter and flowered only in January.
“I thought it was something beautiful that deserved to be shared,” said Farmer.
“It’s a welcome change from the everyday doom and gloom.”
