Hollyhocks; annual, bi or perenials?

[Finedon.Dandy]

In my Dr Hessaian (sorry about spelling!) it states that these should be treated as annuals yet sown as bi but I bought as a perenial!

It is a gorgeous white double that I have and it is just finishing flowering now. What would you do or have done?:

1. Take cuttings - will they flower next year?

2. Collect seed - I assume they will grow next year and not flower till the next

3. Try and protect the crown to keep it going.

It would help if you didnt all say do all three - the best two would be great as I am short on time and energy!

Thanks

Tammy

[Alison]

I always thought that they were perenials but maybe some sorts are more tender so won't survive winters?????? Don't really do flowers though so never looked in to it.

[rustylady]

They are actually short lived perennials. When growing from seed it's best to treat as biennials as if sown in spring they don't usually get mature enough to flower the same year as sowing. Not sure how you would go about taking cuttings, unless you get shoots coming up round the base of the original plant. I know delphiniums do this, but not sure about Hollyhocks. Seed saving is an option but if the original plant was an F1 hybrid the seed may not come true to type. Sorry, not much help was I?

[di]

Sorry by no means a pro on flowers,but I'm pretty sure that if growing from seed then they won't flower until the next year,but if you buy a plant then it might.If you start of with a mix of plants & seeds then year one the plants should flower,whilst the seedlings grow ready to flower the following year,by which time you should be able to hopefully rely on them self seeding providing you with blooms each year.In our old house we got to a stage where we had blooms every year without ever actually planting any.

[nick the grief]

Rusty is spot on short lived perennials that are like biennials - sow yr1 flower yr2. The main problem I've found with Hollyhocks is that sooner or later I only end up with pink singles and then they suffer with rust so I've given up with them.

[grannysmith]

I also thought they were perennials, although I could see a good argument for growing them as annuals, only because mine used to suffer from rust pretty badly. I gave up growing them for that reason, like Nick did. Any advice on how to help them avoid rust from anyone out there would be great. I don't even know if spraying with fungicide would help, or heavier feeding, but I would rather stick to organic methods where possible.

Any ideas???