Crinum Lily in the backyard is re-blooming...see the other six buds waiting their turn?
Throughout the Fall/Winter months I will be asking some gardening questions. The research I have done has been less than helpful on some topics.
I really want Hollyhocks and Foxglove in my gardens. I planted seed last fall, I have about 4 struggling Foxglove and 3 Hollyhocks.....how should I care for them? Sun, shade, moisture level, fertilizer??? I'm in North Forida...zone 8b - 9 ...yes, I do buck the system and plant things in my zone that should not grow, but some of them do..!
32 comments:
oh wow! i love your new header! your flowers are so lovely to look at too. happy tuesday! :)
Yr flowers are looking food. Good luck with the new plants - I look forward to seeing yr photos :)
Hi Darla,
Good luck with your new plants this year. I have planted hollyhocks down here in my zone 10 garden that have done really well, but they only grew in the winter time and they need full sun. I have had no luck with the foxglove. :( I believe there are a few varieties that will do well in your zone in the winter months, although I can't recall which foxglove variety. Have you tried the verbascum? They are lovely and are supposed to do well up there in your neck of the woods. Can't wait to see your pictures.
Happy gardening!
I have no luck at all growing them in the winter. :( So pretty though. Makes me wanna keep trying.
Darla,
I just read in my Florida Gardening mag to plant hollyhock seeds now for spring blooming in full sun. I have so little full sun but I want to give this a try. I've seen them growing nicely in botanical gardens in Central Florida. I NEVER see them in yards around here. Just saw some south of me last week at a botanical garden growing in pots for sale. I didn't purchase any because I want to try to grow them from seed.
Happy day.
Meems @ Hoe and Shovel
ps... I'm going to learn some stuff from your questions, too... looking forward to this.
Hey Darla, I've not grown either from seed. And I have never grown hollyhock. I have two foxgloves right now that I planted in summer(I think). They are in mostly shade, will stay evergreen thru winter and hopefully bloom in spring, then they will go bye, bye.
Hi Darla, nice Crinum Lily. My Zinnias are also still blooming.
I have a laissez faire attitude to zones. I'm in zone 11 and plant stuff that's zone 7!
Well, I live in Michigan, so my summers are probably colder than your winters, but: Regular foxgloves are biennials and need a period of cold weather (ie: winter, which you don't have) to trigger blooming, so yours might not be very willing to flower. But there are varieties which have had the requirement for cold (technically called vernalization) bred out of them. They're marketed as annual foxgloves -- 'Foxy' is a good strain I'm familiar with.
Good luck!
Oh, and my foxgloves are perfectly happy in part shade to full sun with lots of moisture. I assume they'd like the same in alien planets like Florida. :)
I love those hollyhock and foxgolve
plants! We used to grow Hollyhocks at my childhood home. I've never grown foxgolve but I do think they are so pretty!
If anyone can get things to grow where they shouldn't, I'm betting it will be you. Unfortunately I can't provide any hints on Hollyhocks or Foxglove.
Oh Darla!
Your flowers are just beautiful. Good luck with them throughout the season. I would so love to hollyhocks, my Grandmother always had them, and you just brought that memory back to me. We used to make dolls out of them. Living in Phoenix, I doubt they could take the heat here, I just don't know.
I love your header, with that little droplet of dew just letting go. How beautiful is that. Love it.
Stop by and say hi. I would love to have you visit. Country hugs, Sherry
I have had Hollyhocks from seed and they are best planted in fall in morning sun.
I think it best to buy the foxglove and plant it in the morning sun. They both like morning to noon sun.
Patsy
Hi Darla, I can't help you with the Hollyhawks and Floxglove.. I've never tried to grow either. BUT--I do see alot of Hollyhawks up here. Maybe it's too hot in the summer down there...????
Good Lucky..
Hugs,
Betsy
I love those Crinium, they used to come into our greenhouses in August, and just bloom their little hearts out.
Jen
I'm with Meems, plant those seeds now so that by the Spring they will be ready to go in the ground. Remember my dilemna last year with seeds...I planted them too late for here (March). Even though it was the right time by the book...it was not the right time. It was far to hot here my March for them to germinate, so they didn't do much. Here we need to plant seed BEFORE January. Lets try that this year and see how it turns out
Hi Darla! I don't remember if I sent you foxglove seeds or not. If not, I can send them, and you can experiment with them as much as you want. In my garden, foxgloves grow in full sun and in partial shade. They are biannual, first year, there are no blooms(your plants might be in their first year, just let them be, they might bloom next season). My plants grow on the flower beds and just anywhere, even in poor soil.If you want seeds, send me your address.Have a great day!
I can't help ya with those...I can't grow them either! but the photos are fabulous girl!
As pretty as ever Darla... we have foxgloves all over the place here in England.. they grow in the hedgerows and by the sides of motoways.... some grow real tall as well... I grew Hollyhocks many years ago and we loved them.... again they grew real tall.
I laughed at your comment.... I have left one for Imac inviting him to stop by as I had fired a broadside .. ha!
The Flower Power Lady, I love your shots.
Darla: Beautiful blooms this week, we have almost nothing left.
Tomorrow is the big header change day.
Beautiful flowers for fall!!
Beautiful flowers! I think my zinnias are almost done :( I grow both hollyhocks and foxgloves and do nothing special to either of them. No extra water or fertilizer. Both are in mostly sunny areas. Hollyhocks are biennials as well as foxgloves like Tatyana said.
I'm much farther north than you so I probably won't be of much help. I can't grow hollyhocks well because I don't have enough sun and they don't like to be crowded by other plants. On the other hand, foxgloves do well. They like shade and moist soils here.
I mentioned you in a post today ladybug!
Hi Darla, I love both the zinnia and crinums, buds in the background is always good! The foxgloves like some shade and moisture, good drainage though, on the north side of things is good for them. I sow seeds in spring, when the plants outside are also sowing theirs. Biennials, they will sprout and grow foliage the first year, bloom the next. The perennial types are short lived and should be treated the same. Hollyhocks want full sun and rich soil, protection from wind, against a building, south facing wall for them. Plant the seeds now. Good luck with both! :-)
Frances
Foxgloves/Hollyhocks are some of my favorite plants. Their biennials though, which means they bloom the second year & then their gone. Unless their happy & reseed for you. Good luck, don't know the secret of success to be more helpful.
I have terrible luck with both those plants Darla~~so I will be useless! This year neither the cosmos or zinnias germinated! All the rain washed the seeds away. gail
congrats on the header prize!
Hi Darla~~ How is it going with the planting advice? I have experience with both of these plants so I'll offer my two bits.
Foxglove are native to the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest. They like dappled shade and humus-rich soil a little on the acid side. They are biennial so you'll get the leafy rosette the first year and blooms the second that will reseed and germinate and grow a rosette that will bloom the following year. [Whew.] Greensparrow brought up vernalization. I'm also in Zone 8b and it gets cold enough here. Typically the upper 30s with a few drops into the 20s.
Hollyhock can also be biennial but not always. Again, a rosette of foliage until the flower stalks jet up either the first year or the second. My red ones took awhile but they are first-year. They like full sun. Do you need seed? I'd be happy to send you some.
My Mother's Garden suggests Verbascum. I've got seed of a white with purple centers, first year bloomer, if you'd like to try it.
I concur with the other commenters. [Reminder to self.] Seed should be sown pronto. I've also got 'Lauren's Grape' opium poppy that needs to be sown now. Interested?
Hollyhocks won't do much the first year. My package of seed gave me 2 struggling plants. I should be thankful, one more than the cleome.
Really like the header.
Forgot to say my daylilies don't know when to give up either. We have had 2 hard frost, so heavy it looked like snow, and I still have daylilies blooming. Against everything a daylily is named for, I have one that has had the SAME bloom for a week now. Go figure!
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