🌿 CHARLOTTE'S YELLOW HOLLYHOCKS 🌿 (Alcea rugosa)

Alcea rugosa
"Russian Hollyhocks,"
Now giving up some seeds from the 7-ft stalks––
this listing honors Charlotte Lamoureux (1911-2004)
who shared her yellow hollyhock seeds
with many island friends. Charlotte & Mahlon Lamoureux
bloomed where they were planted on Shaw Island, full time 
from 1966 to 1999. Charlotte loved yellow.
Anno eighteen August 2016.
Shaw Island, WA.
Un-enhanced photo.

Common Name:  
Russian Hollyhocks.

Life Cycle: Perennial

Zone: 4 to 8.

Native Region: The original species is from Ukraine and Southern Russia. 

Plant height: 4-feet

Flower height: 6-feet.

Bloom: Midsummer to early fall. Showy, buttery yellow.

Culture: Sun.

Water: Medium.

Seeding: One source says direct seeding on the surface.

Days to Sprout: 14-21.

Viability: 2-3 yrs if kept cool and dry.

Notes: Excellent but rarely encountered hollyhock. The tall, sturdy 6'-7' spikes begin to shoot up in Spring. The bottom half of the stock is clothed with typical Hollyhock foliage while the top half is adorned all summer with large 4 inch, single butter-yellow, classic mallow flowers. Short-lived but can self-seed so that a colony can persist in a garden for years. Tolerates a wide range of soil conditions except for winter wet. 

Sowing: Indoors in early March/April or outdoors in May or later in autumn.

Attracts: butterflies and hummingbirds. 

Resists The ugly rust (Puccinia malvacearum) that normally attacks the foliage of other Alcea species. 

Recommended for vertical accent and general garden use and bouquets. Self-sows in optimum conditions, if allowed, but never a problem.

The Shaw Island connection continues––
These scrumptious Hollyhocks captured on film and in 
 pockets of gardener Ingrid L., bicycling in France in 2000.
She brought home some of these seeds to plant at her 
new Shaw Island garden just purchased from Charlotte.
Photo courtesy of Ingrid.

Alcea rugosa
"Russian Hollyhocks"
Seeds for sale at the Gatehouse,
Shaw Island, WA.

🌿 CLEMATIS seeds 🌿

CLEMATIS HELSINGBORG

Clematis "Helsingborg"

Life Cycle: Herbaceous Perennial Vine

Plant Height: 12' to 15' at maturity

Plant Width (Spread) 10'

Zone: USDA 5 to 9

Flower: Purple color.

Light Exposure: full sun to light shade.

Seasonal Interest: Spectacular spring show of rich purple flowers followed by fluffy seed heads in late summer.

Notes: Prefers rich, well-drained soil. Plant vines that are well-rooted & minimum 2 years old. Clematis are heavy feeders and appreciate fertilizer in Spring.
This Clematis blooms on old stems AND new growth, so best to prune lightly in late spring once the first flush of flowers is finished. Easy to grow and easy to control the small vine.

Well established, overgrown plants can be cut back to 12" tall in winter to remove tangles, allowing robust new stems to fill out the plant, but will not flower the next year.

These notes are from the Elizabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden where they list Clematis "Helsingborg" on the list of "Great Plant Picks" with cultural information, a great guide for PNW gardeners. The list contains the best plants for the maritime climate of the Puget Sound area. 

And here is what the great gardener/book author had to say regarding the soil this plant enjoys:

"The best kind of soil from every point of view is that which is rich in humus: decayed vegetable matter like leaf mould, peat, farmyard manure, garden compost, straw, spent hops, sewage sludge, road sweepings, ground bark as a forestry by-product, deep litter chicken manure based on sawdust or wood shavings. When I am asked what I recommend as a soil conditioner for Clematis, I think of all these things but which to recommend depends so much on the individual's locality. What she can acquire or make most conveniently at the lower cost." Lloyd, C. Clematis. Capability's Books. 1989.

🌿 Wordless Wednesday

Seeds coming in,
anno two August 2016.
I've never seen a Shaw Island Phormium 
plant produce seeds, (upper right.)
Thanks, Chris C!