Hollyhock

Alcea rosea

flower

Hollyhock is the towering cottage-garden classic - 5 to 8 ft single stems studded bottom-to-top with crepe-paper single or double blooms in pastel pink, deep maroon, white, yellow, or apricot. Most types are biennial, meaning they produce a leafy rosette the first year and flower spectacularly in the second, then self-seed and reseed in place to behave like long-lived perennials. They draw bumblebees and hummingbirds and look right against any fence, barn, or wall.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Bee Balm — Pollinator partner with hummingbirds and bees and shares the same cottage-garden conditions
• Foxglove — Both tall biennials that flower together at the back of a border
• Larkspur — Cool-season annual spires fill in beneath the taller hollyhock stalks
• Yarrow — Yarrow draws hoverflies and parasitic wasps that prey on hollyhock aphids

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Hollyhock rust →

  The plants main weakness - water at the base in the morning, give plants airflow, remove infected leaves immediately, and clean up debris each fall

• Japanese beetles →

  Handpick beetles into soapy water in the cool of the morning; avoid traps, which attract more beetles than they catch

• Aphids →

  Hose off colonies, plant yarrow nearby for hoverflies, and support resident ladybugs

• Slugs →

  Protect young rosettes with grit or traps in cool damp spring weather

🌸 Blooms & cutting

Hollyhock is grown as a garden flower rather than a cut flower - the stems are short-lived in a vase. Cut individual blooms for floating in a shallow bowl, or photograph them in situ. Leave a few seedheads to ripen and shatter if you want a self-sowing patch; collect dry seed to share or save by mid-fall.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Hollyhock is a powerful pollinator plant: the open single forms in particular feed bumblebees and native bees, and the tall flower spires also draw hummingbirds and hawkmoths. The bloom petals are edible and traditionally used as a colorful garnish and a soothing herbal tea. The plant has a long medicinal history in the mallow family for its mucilaginous qualities.