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Pagans associated hollyhock with abundance, fertility, and prosperity.Here are some more fun facts about hollyhock's role in herbal folklore and white magic: rosea came directly to England from China.Įgyptians buried their mummies with hollyhocks, and in the late 16th and early 17th century, the English used hollyhock tinctures to help with difficult pregnancies and to soothe teething in babies. Several reputable sources claim hollyhocks were introduced to Western Europe during the Crusades, but the highly-esteemed A Modern Herbal claims A. Hollyhocks are members of the mallow ( Malvaceae ) family, and are thought to originate in western Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. There is even a recipe dating from 1660 that recommends combining Hollyhock, Marigolds, Wild Thyme and Hazel buds in order to allow mortals to see the fairy folk. And we think it's amusing to imagine people dressed all in black, covered in cake makeup, melting on hot sunny beaches.įairies were believed to use the blooms as skirts, and Hollyhock seed pods were known as fairy cheese because they resembled a cheese wheel. Hollyhock History & UsesĪs with our article on growing larkspur, we wrote this post in October, so we're going to turn to Wytchery: A Gothic Curiosity Cabinet to help us relate hollyhock's history and folklore. If you've had a crappy day at work, and you wish you were in Maui, at least you can grab yourself a Mai Tai and transport yourself to a sandy beach when you've got hollyhock flowers as the focus of your thousand-yard stare. Their flowers may be multi-layered like the Carnival or Double Majorette varieties, or single-layered, closely resembling hibiscus. Hollyhocks are hummingbird and butterfly magnets, thanks to their copious pollen and nectar-rich flowers, and their gently-lobed, slightly crinkly leaves have a heart-shaped outline they're larger at the base, getting smaller as they progress up the plants' central spike. If you're going for the Goth look, you'll absolutely love black hollyhocks, which appear to have an iridescent tinge of blues and pink against a velvety black background.
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Hollyhock's blooms are as large as 5” in diameter with colors range anywhere from white, pale pink, yellow, magenta, to deep red.
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#Hollyhock seedlings skin
Though their sap may cause mild skin irritation, hollyhocks are considered safe for pets and people. Their towering spikes and saucer-sized flowers add structure and scale to your landscape design, and they're the perfect alternative for gardeners who might freak out about the toxicity of similar plants, such as foxglove and larkspur. They resemble tropical plants, yet they thrive in cool, coastal climates. Hollyhocks are incredibly popular in traditional English cottage garden plants.