ON RAISING AND EXHIBITING THE HOLLYHOCK. 
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ON RAISING AND EXHIBITING THE HOLLYHOCK. 
By Mr. G. GLENNY, F.II.S. 
I7T1HIS noble, but until lately coarse, flower lias been so improved within the last few years, that the 
II better kind of gardens possess it in all its varied forms and colours that are worth cultivating, 
and it is rapidly making its way into most florists’ establishments. It is much improved in the 
denseness of its colours, since it has become practicable to produce the plant with other good properties, 
but no one point has done so much for it as thickness of petal. 
The properties of the Hollyhock have been fully explained in the volume of “ Properties of 
Flowers and we can hardly describe improvements without referring to the points that are desirable. 
The characteristic of the Hollyhock for many years was coarseness—that is, roughness and informality 
in the flower, and flimsiness of petal, which was scarcely thicker in any of the numerous varieties, than 
that of the field Poppy. This flimsiness was against dense colours, because we could almost see through 
the petals, and therefore lost the brilliance of even the brighter colours. The great variety of colours 
induced many to look most to colour; doubleness of flower was, however, indispensable, for the single 
were excessively mean and weedy in appearance. Many nurseries, however, were stocked with large 
collections, and could supply fifty or sixty very distinct colours ; forms were not considered. The first 
attempt to improve the flower systematically was made in Essex, and in a few years somewhere 
about thirty varieties were raised with evident approaches to the standard laid down in “ Properties of 
Flowers and Plants.” They had thicker petals, the centre was less confused, the colours quite new, 
many were mottled and spotted, and the whole formed an interesting collection. 
The Hollyhock may be raised from seed for new varieties, but when a new and good sort is pro¬ 
cured it should be propagated from portions of the stem or root. The seedlings rarely bring more 
than one in fifty so good as that which yielded the seed; but if there is one of a thousand as good as 
the best, and therefore worthy of a name and propagation, it will repay us for our trouble. 
For the seedling bed prepare a piece of ground four feet wide, with an alley on each side, and, if the 
soil be good, deep-trench it two spits, and throw the bottom earth to the top, and the top spit to the 
bottom or undermost. It is not necessary to dung the ground if there is any strength at all in it, for 
if it will grow a Cabbage, it is sufficient. Let the lumps in this be well broken, and rake the surface 
smooth; sow the seed in March, as thinly as you can, so that no two seeds are nearer to each other 
than an inch; rake them in well, or, what is better, sift some dry soil over the seeds so as to cover 
them. When these come up, and begin growing, the weeds will come and must be kept under, for 
weeds on a seedling bed are the greatest drawback to the progress of the plants ; constantly weeding, 
therefore, as fast as any weeds appear, is a matter of course. In the month of June the plants will have 
advanced sufficiently to plant in nursery beds six inches apart every way. The beds four feet wide, and 
any required length, with an alley on each side to walk and work on. The nursery bed should be pre¬ 
pared the same as the seed bed, and when all the plants are removed from the seed bed, it may be 
filled again with them at six inches apart every way. Water in dry weather; but they must especially 
be well moistened when planted out first. In taking the young plants from the seed bed, they must 
be raised up with a fork, or the dibble, or trowel, for the roots would break if you attempted to 
draw them ; and, if the weather has been long dry, it may be desirable to soak the ground well before 
you attempt to take them up. They may be planted with the dibble, by making holes deep enough to 
take in the roots unbent, and closing the hole by making another close to the side, and pushing 
the earth in afterwards, and pressing the sides of the first hole in upon the roots. The beds must be 
kept clear of weeds as before, and the things left to grow with nothing further than occasional 
watering. By the autumn of the year they will be strong plants, and they may be put out wherever 
you intend them to bloom, whether in the borders, or in rows at any part of the garden, or even where 
they are ; but every other plant must be taken up, as well as every other row, so that they will be left 
one foot apart all over the bed ; they may be supported by a strong line along a few upright stakes, so 
that they may, as they advance in the spring, be fastened to the line in case of boisterous weather. 
As they bloom you must remove every single flower, and every semi-double one, unless there be 
anything remarkably worth saving in the character or colour; generally discard everything that is not 
new and good. Save not a single plant which has a thin petal; they are all useless. Take no heed 
of old colours, unless the flower is better than we have, and new colours ought to be on thick petals to 
justify saving them. You will find that, of a good many plants, very few will be worth propagating, 
and those which are should be labelled, described, and supported by stakes, for the sake of then’ seed. 
The seed pods should be removed as soon as they are brown, and before they begin to scatter about, as 
much depends on every advance among seeds; as soon as you have gathered the seed, cut down the 
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