Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Mother Earth Gardener

    Helpful Hollyhocks

    Jun 09, 2017 5 minutes
    By Dawn Combs

    I REMEMBER HOLLYHOCKS in my grandfather’s garden. They were tall and pink, and there was something wistful about them — as if by sitting with them I could somehow hear the echoes of children at play from a time beyond imagination.

    Eventually, I realized that my imagination wasn’t far from the truth. The hollyhock has long resided in the gardens of humanity and has watched us at play on nearly every continent. The name “holy” hock may have originated from the belief that the plant came to England from the Far East after the Crusades, but there’s stronger evidence that it came to Europe from China in 1573.

    HOLLYHOCKS THROUGH HISTORY

    The common garden hollyhock () traveled all over the world during the Middle Ages because of its well-deserved reputation of being able to thrive in almost

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from Mother Earth Gardener

    Mother Earth Gardener5 min read
    SWEET (and Simple) Potatoes
    MORE TIMES THAN I’D LIKE to admit, a sweet potato has remained hidden in my vegetable cupboard long enough to begin sprouting. For years, I’d either cook it before it spoiled or I’d toss it into the compost pile. After I’d started a flock of chickens
    Mother Earth Gardener1 min read
    Straw Vs. Hay
    Think of a drinking straw — hollow and rigid. Straw bales are tightly packed bundles of just such “straws” of dried hollow stems. Hay bales, on the other hand, are made up of bundled grasses. The most commonly used and widely available types of straw
    Mother Earth Gardener3 min read
    Build a Sunny Addition to Your Garden
    YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE a fairly robust and critter-proof gate for your garden fence. That’s great for protecting the garden, but utility gates aren’t necessarily decorative. Happily, you can add an accent gate inside the garden that’s a little more att

    Related