Growing HOLLYHOCKS from SEED to FLOWERS (time lapse)

Summary

Hollyhocks are beautiful plants with large, showy flowers that complete their life cycle in two years. This means if they are planted from seed, they will not bloom the first year, but will bloom the next year. Hollyhocks thrive in zones 3 to 9 and are particularly suited to North Texas Zone 8A. They are drought-tolerant and can attract pollinators like bees and hummingbirds. While they require regular watering as seedlings, they become more resilient over time. The video provides a step-by-step guide on planting, nurturing, and harvesting hollyhocks, emphasizing the importance of sunlight, well-drained soil, and proper spacing. Attractively planted along fences, they grow up to 7 feet tall, and their vibrant blooms are a stunning addition to any garden.

Highlights

• Hollyhocks are biennials and won't bloom the first year 🌱.
• Perfect for zones 3 to 9 and drought-tolerant once established 🌍.
• Keep hollyhocks moist during seedling stage for healthy growth 💧.
• Planting along fences maximizes their beauty and prevents blocking other plants 🌿.
• They are hosts for painted lady butterfly caterpillars 🦋.
• Hollyhocks can grow up to 7 feet tall with vibrant, colorful blooms 🌷.

Key Takeaways

• Hollyhocks complete their life cycle in two years; they won't bloom the first year 🌸.
• These plants are low maintenance once established and become drought-tolerant 🌿.
• Hollyhocks are perfect for attracting pollinators like bees and hummingbirds 🐝.
• To prevent disease, keep them sprayed with fungicide and manage pests 🔍.
• For optimal growth, plant hollyhocks in well-drained, rich soil with full sun ☀️.

Overview

Hollyhocks are the quintessential garden giants, boasting tall stalks with bright, eye-catching flowers. As biennials, they dedicate their first year to growing strong and preparing for their grand floral display in the second year. They thrive in various climates but are especially at home in the temperate zones like North Texas. Not only do they captivate with their looks, but they also lure in beneficial pollinators, transforming any garden into a buzzing sanctuary.

Growing hollyhocks involves a bit of planning and patience, as they require well-drained, nutrient-rich soil and strategic placement to maximize sunlight exposure. Although they can handle dry spells, young hollyhocks are thirsty and need regular watering. Fungal diseases and pests can be a concern, but with regular care, these potential issues are easily managed. A hollyhock's journey from seed to flower is a true gardener's delight, offering spectacular blooms year after year with proper care.

When the time to bloom arrives, the vibrant colors of hollyhocks can range from soft pinks to bold blacks, bringing dramatic flair to any landscape. They can be a bit top-heavy, especially after rain, so providing support can help maintain their stature. Once they've shown off their blooms and the season winds down, these plants leave behind seeds ready to start the next generation. With a little effort, gardeners can enjoy these stunning flowers for many seasons to come.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Hollyhocks Hollyhocks are beautiful plants known for their large, showy flowers gracing tall stalks. They are biennials, meaning they complete their biological life cycle in two years. When planted from seed, they will not bloom in the first year but will bloom in the second year, produce seeds, and then die. In some climates, hollyhocks may act like perennials, returning year after year, but in most climates, they behave as biennials when they are young plants.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Watering and Climate Suitability The chapter discusses the watering needs and climate suitability of Hollyhocks, highlighting their drought tolerance once established. They are described as ideal for North Texas Zone 8A's dry and hot summers, requiring low maintenance, although they can suffer from fungal diseases like rust and insect damage. The text suggests using fungicide in the spring to prevent rust.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Starting Seeds and Soil Requirements The chapter titled 'Starting Seeds and Soil Requirements' discusses the process of attracting pollinators such as bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies, particularly focusing on how Holly Hawks serve as host plants for painted lady butterfly caterpillars. The narrative highlights the suitable growing zones for Holly Hawks, which are zones 3 through 9, and specifies that the action takes place in zone 8A during the middle of June. The author describes the process of starting Holly Hawks from seed, emphasizing the importance of using good quality potting soil to provide essential nutrients to seedlings from the start. It is mentioned that seeds can be started indoors approximately 9 weeks before the last expected frost date.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Planting and Seedling Care This chapter covers the topic of 'Planting and Seedling Care.' It begins by explaining the timing for planting seeds, which can be started outside a week before the last frost date or indoors before then. Given it's June, seeds can be started outdoors at this time. The chapter advises on the use of taller containers for plants like Hollyhocks, which have long taproots, ensuring the roots have space to grow. It further discusses soil requirements, noting that while Hollyhocks require rich, well-drained soil, they can still thrive in heavy clay soil, as evidenced by their growth in the backyard example given. Additionally, if the soil in containers is already moist, additional watering is unnecessary.
• 03:00 - 04:30: Transplanting and Fertilization The chapter covers the process of planting seeds, specifically highlighting the steps of planting seeds about 1/4 inch deep in soil, covering them, and watering to maintain moist conditions. The importance of morning sun and afternoon shade is emphasized to prevent the soil and seeds from drying out too quickly.
• 04:30 - 06:00: Blooming and Support The chapter titled 'Blooming and Support' discusses the challenges and methods of cultivating Holly hawks. The speaker mentions some seedlings died due to drought and negligence in watering, leading to replanting additional seeds. Despite a couple of nights with temperatures dropping to 28°F, the Holly hawks, still in containers as of December 10th, survived without additional covering or protection. The use of a liquid fish fertilizer commonly applied throughout the garden is highlighted as a contributor to their thriving condition.
• 06:00 - 07:30: Harvesting Seeds In this chapter, the speaker discusses the relocation of Hollyhocks, highlighting that they thrive when planted in large clusters. The chosen locations are along the fence line to prevent blocking garden views, considering their potential height of up to 7 feet. Two spots are selected, one receiving morning sun and afternoon shade, ensuring optimal growth conditions.
• 07:30 - 08:00: Conclusion and Future Planting In this chapter, the discussion focuses on the strategic placement of plants considering their exposure to sunlight, with one location receiving morning shade and afternoon sun. Hol Hawks are being planted with sufficient spacing from fans due to their wide growth. The initial planting includes adding Trifecta plus fertilizer, but any all-purpose granular fertilizer can also be used. As the plants grow, additional fertilization will be applied. This chapter highlights the preparations and considerations for planting and nourishing the plants in the chosen locations.

Growing HOLLYHOCKS from SEED to FLOWERS (time lapse) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Hol Hawks are beautiful plants with large showy flowers that Grace tall stocks they are B anals which means they complete their biological life cycle in 2 years so if I plant them from seed this year they're not going to bloom this year but they will Bloom next year then they will produce seed and die in some climates Hol Hawks act like perennial flowers that come back year after year but in most climates they're bals when holw are only young plants
• 00:30 - 01:00 they do require regular watering but once they're established they're pretty much drought tolerant so they are perfect plants to grow here in North Texas Zone 8A where we get dry and hot summers so they're pretty low maintenance plants but they do get some fungal diseases like rust and also insects like chewing on their flowers and leaves to treat Holly Hawks from rust they can simply be sprayed with fungicide in the spring and they should be okay hey Holly Hawks are great at
• 01:00 - 01:30 attracting bees hummingbirds and other pollinators and they are also host plants for painted lady butterfly caterpillars Hol Hawks are suitable to grow in zones 3 to9 we're in zone 8A in the middle of June and today I'm going to start some Holly Hawk from seed I filled up a few containers with some good quality potting soil the seedlings need all those nutrients to be healthy from the very beginning seeds can be started indoors 9 weeks before the last
• 01:30 - 02:00 frost date or they can be started outside a week before the last frost date but right now we're in June so I can start all these seeds Outdoors Holly Hawks have a long tap rout so I'm using taller containers so that the root would have space to grow Holly Hawks do require Rich well- drained soil but here in our backyard we have mostly heavy clay soil and they are doing just fine the soil in the containers is already moist so I don't need to water it again
• 02:00 - 02:30 I'm just going to take a couple of seeds and plant them about a/4 of an inch deep and then cover them back with a Soil and Water them after that to make sure that the seeds are in contact with the soil and stay moist the whole time and I'm going to plant about two seeds in each container now that we planted our seeds I'm going to place the containers in a spot that gets Morning Sun and afternoon shade so the soil does not dry out too fast and the seeds don't go dry today is July 18th and this this is what our
• 02:30 - 03:00 Holly hawks look like some of the seedlings died due to drought and me forgetting to water them so I had to plant additional seeds today is December 10th and our Holly Hawks are still in containers we've had a couple of nights so far where the temperature went down to 28° fah I did not cover these containers didn't do anything to them and they survived just fine I also have been fertilizing them with a liquid fish fertilizer that I use for my whole garden and and they're looking great but
• 03:00 - 03:30 they should not stay in these containers so today I'm going to find spots for them where they can go into the ground Holly hawks look better when they're planted in large groups together in a row and I'm going to pick a spot along the fence line so the Holly Hawks would be away from the rest of the garden and not blocking the view since they can get up to 7 ft tall and I'm going to plant them in two different locations this one gets Morning Sun and afternoon shade and
• 03:30 - 04:00 the other location will get morning shade and afternoon sun and I would like to see how they will perform in those conditions I'm going to plant Hol Hawks a little bit away from the fans to give them a little space because they get quite wide on the bottom of the hole I'm going to add some Trifecta plus fertilizer but it can be any fertilizer all perpose fertilizer you have it can be granular and then later while they're growing I'll be fertilizing them with
• 04:00 - 04:30 liquid fish fertilizer throughout a DP irrigation so I'm going to take it out of the container The Roots look nice they're not bound and it's important for the Hol Hawks not to be root bound and I'll set it at the same depth that it was in the container and simply uh pull all the soil back around the root ball and make sure that I tuck the soil in well to remove all the air Pockets then
• 04:30 - 05:00 I'll simply water then I won't be doing anything else really the fence will be protecting the Hol Hawk from extreme cold fronts and I'll make sure to keep the soil moist and that's about all today is March 17th and this is our Holly Hawk that I planted right here in one row all different colors I think they will look real pretty once they all started blooming this spray has been rainy so they have been watered by rain today is mayth and our Holly Hawks are blooming I can see there's light pink
• 05:00 - 05:30 some bright pink and also there is whitish color when I planted them here I did not amend the soil at all and the soil in our backyard is heavy clay and even with our soil they're still looking beautiful and the flowers are blooming we've had a lot of rain and wind lately so the Hol Hawks are bending over for that purpose I use short bamboo stick and I tie the Holly Hawks to the bamboo sticks so they would be more upright these are volunteers from C from Holly
• 05:30 - 06:00 Hawks That Grew last year and dropped their seed so once you have Holly Hawks most likely you will have them every year and these are our black Holly Hawks you can see how they started flopping over a little bit that's because I did not put any bamboo sticks here the black color is not as visible as pink or white but it's okay they're still interesting looking Hol Hawks and if you remember we planted one Hol hawk in this place that gets only Morning Sun and afternoon shade and you can see that right now the Sun is going away so this plant will be
• 06:00 - 06:30 in complete shade and you can tell that it's much shorter it's not blooming yet at all I don't see any signs of blossoms yet so even in our hot climate it's still much better to plant Hol Hawks in full sun so it's been a week and you can see that our Holly Hawks have more blooms on them they have blooms on top and on the lower part of Holly Hawks and also these white Hol Hawks are opening up I don't think we had them a week ago yet but today today I would like to show
• 06:30 - 07:00 you how we can Harvest Hol Hawk seeds you can see that after they are done blooming their pods kind of turn brown and dry out a little bit and if you open the outer skin you can see that all the seeds are inside let me just collect this whole pod and you can see that all the seeds are here they've turned dark gray and if they're dry you can simply store them in a plastic bag or in a pap envelope you
• 07:00 - 07:30 can plant them in the ground right now I can do that today or you can store them and plant them in the ground in the fall most likely they won't come up now because it's getting too hot for the seeds to germinate at this temperature so I'll wait till September or October to plant them where I want them to grow next year you can also share them with your friends and family and that's how we grow Hol Hawks it's not hard at all I actually might move my Hol Hawks a little bit closer to where they get more sun and I'll see if that helps them
• 07:30 - 08:00 bloom more thank you so much for watching this video I hope you liked it and have a great day