Old-Fashioned Hollyhocks - Not Lovin' Them

I have a beautiful cutting garden.  It runs about 100 feet long and about 3 feet deep next to a chain link fence in my alley.  It is the only place where I get enough sunshine and ready irrigation to plant the gorgeous mix of roses, old-fashioned perennials, and annual cutting flowers I love.  Spring 2 years ago I planted six old-fashioned hollyhocks.  I love the vision of tall stakes of flowers so classic from the days of yore. (Yore?)  This is what hollyhocks are supposed to look like:

These pics are not from my garden.  My stubborn hollyhocks sulked in their beds for an entire year and another year after that producing in year 2 some large leaves that immediately became host to leaf miners; a cowardly little larva of an evil moth that actually tunnels into the leaf thus resisting insecticides which I don’t use and hiding from natural predators which I do count on.  These nasty little worms eat away on the inside of the leaf leaving a crazy labyrinthine channel that look like this:

But the plants were otherwise pretty healthy and did grow to about 18″ tall so I left them over the winter to do what they were going to do.  This spring the plants sprang up to about 5′ tall as my attention-deficit dog, Buck, is attesting to and actually look like they will fulfill their promise this year.  The buds have yet to open but they are formed.

 

 

 

So I have been watching them very closely and now see a scabby reddish gunk on the bottom-most leaves that is either scale or rust or some fungal infection, I think.

Now I am scrupulous about mulch and watering practices in this bed because of my roses and further deter fungal attacks with a monthly spray of baking soda as a fungicide. Even so this is what my hollyhocks look like:

In addition they seem to be on the menu for every leaf eating varmint in this area.  I have yet to do anything about these problems until I have researched exactly what I am dealing with and until and if these wimps ever bloom.  I may be so enchanted with the actual blooms that these will be a must every year.

But I doubt it.  My garden is no place for shrinking violets.  I am as attentive as the next gardener but if a plant is not tough enough to withstand the annual hell-worthy hot Texas summers, the occasional ice storm in the winters, and be resistant to the bugs and thugs of the garden, out it goes to make room for a hardier, more robust replacement.  When I first started the gardens years ago, I was happy to have any cutting of anything from any generous gardener or any half-dead plant marked for clearance.  Anything to fill the sad empty spaces in my beds.  But not any more.  Space is at a premium now and I have gotten over my reticence to pull a plant out of the ground while it is still on its last leg. My “2+” rule is in full effect.

I have discussed my “2+” rating system before but in a nutshell, it means that in order to qualify for a trial in my gardens, a plant must have two of the qualities I am looking for: drought-tolerance + long blooming season, shade tolerant + large blooms, etc. In addition the plant must then have one additional attribute to qualify; like heavenly fragrance, stunning foliage, or something along those lines.   And finally, it must survive without a truckload or insecticides, artificial fertilizers, and rivers of irrigation (except for my hydrangeas, but that is another story)

So unless these wimpy little whey-faced princesses can rally and demonstrate something spectacular this season, their days are numbered.  I may sound bitter but have you seen the rust picture?  Eww and this after 3 years.  3 YEARS!  I’ll keep you posted.

Ruthless Gardening and remember to “bee” positive!

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