Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Riot of colour
|
Hollyhock with its bright flowers livens up gardens
|
Colourful option: The short-lived perennial, hollyhock, is a visual delight
IF YOUR garden needs colour, hollyhock may be the best option. With its white, pink, cream, yellow, red and purple flowers, the hollyhock will definitely be a visual delight wherever it is planted - near the front door, the gate or as part of a border.
Short-lived
Alcea hollyhock is a short-lived perennial, originally from Europe and Asia, belonging to the family Malvaceae. The name is derived from the Greek word Althea, which means "to cure". Not surprising, some species have medicinal value.
These plants grow up to a height of 1.8 metres. Hollyhock is cultivated for its tall, slender inflorescence of large stalks or short-stalked five-petalled, brightly-coloured flowers suitable for mixed border or for growing along a wall.
Alcea roseae is an upright perennial producing rounded, hairy, light-green leaves 3.5 cm long, cut into 3-7 lobes. Flowers are many along the tops of the spikes, short-stalked and saucer-shaped with prominent yellow centres.
Fringed flowers
Alcea spring bears fringed flowers in bright red and pink shades. A `charters double' bears double flowers in a range of bright colours and paler shades including pink, apricot, red, white, lavender blue, yellow and purple.
Alcea nigra has single, chocolate-maroon flowers with yellow throats. Hollyhocks grow in moderately fertile, well drained-soil and in full sun. The leaves of the plants were formerly used as pot herbs and the petals to colour wine and to cure coughs. The plant is susceptible to rust aphids.
CHITRA RADHAKRISHNAN
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
