Monday, June 20, 2016

Summertime, summertime. . . . . . . . . .


Seeds can surprise. . . . . . . . . especially after a couple of years since sowing
and nothing happening! 

My wonderful blog friend Gina sent me seeds from her beautiful hollyhocks. 
Only a few germinated last year but never grew more than a few inches before
 disappearing into thin air, probably fried in our hot/humid weather.

Today, to welcome Summer, and to cheer me up - as I sit about the house and
 garden trying hard to behave myself per my surgeon's post-op orders - shining
 brightly is my first lovely hollyhock to bloom. All the way from Gina's fabulous Utah
 garden surrounding her gorgeous farmland/country home, I now have one of her
 flowers to love.


Thank you yet again dear Gina, here's hoping this one will self-seed!  
If you aren't already following Gina be sure to pop over and visit this lovely
 lady/ceramic artist/painter/traveler here at Art and Alfalfa - you will love everything she
 shares from her beautiful corner of the country.


A very happy Summertime to each of you.


11 comments:

  1. Thankfully, your photography is something you can continue while recuperating, Mary. The hollyhock is beautiful. Thank you for blessing your readers with updates and gorgeous photos.

    So happy to know you are recovering nicely. Have been wanting to comment to let you know.

    Continued blessings and a speedy recovery.

    Thank you for sharing your always interesting to read posts.

    Barbie

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  2. I love hollyhocks. I think they are such an old fashioned garden flower and they make me happy. I sowed hollyhock seeds from my late mother-in-laws plants a few years ago but they didn't do well or even bloom so I took them out. I still have more seeds but they are old. I wonder if they'll still 'take'? Good to know you are doing well after your surgery. Take care of yourself. Happy summer wishes to you! xx Pam

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  3. Hollyhocks were a favorite of my grandmother and mother. I grew some last year and they were beautiful. Yours is a lovely colour. Continue to heal, dear Mary. Hugs,Deb

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  4. That's a beautiful hollyhock, Mary, to cheer you along as you recuperate. I'm glad the surgery is over and wish for a thorough and quick recovery.

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  5. Love, love, love hollyhocks! Lucky you! They do take a couple years. I once got some pink ones from a blogger. They are still in my garden, but just don't do great. I can't bear to take them out though. They get a lot of mildew. What a lovely reminder of a friend.

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  6. A very Happy Summer to you, too, Mary, and all prayers for a speedy recovery as well. So glad to read there was no cancer. This beautiful red hollyhock is a perfect summery color, at least to my thinking, and I am so glad it is bringing you joy. Blessings to you. Sara

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  7. Lovely lovely hollyhock. Long long ago I put some hollyhock seeds in a little coin purse to save - from my dad's garden. I rediscovered them about 20 years later - planted them and they grew and grew and grew - I've saved seeds from them and have planted them where ever we have lived. The deer at them the first year we lived in this house - but I have more seeds saved. Good for you - behaving yourself like the doctor said to - take it easy on yourself.

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  8. What a beauty that hollyhock is, and great you were there to see it in bloom. Good to hear you are doing as your told, its so easy to do things & say ' I just pull out these weeds ' be good and careful. Enjoy the summer in your garden.

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  9. Dear Mary, I am so very pleased that a hollyhock seed from Utah is blooming in your garden. And just at the right time to help cheer you up and help you recover from your recent surgery.
    Let the stalk ripen and lay the entire stalk where you want them to grow. Hollyhock seeds need light to germinate. Hollyhocks are biannual plants. Watch for little seedlings...they will bloom the second year. It is best to pull out 3 year old plants because they will not do well. Once you have grown hollyhocks successfully they will show up in the most unexpected places.
    Take good care of yourself.

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  10. Mary, I have exactly two, that color, but they are double flowered. Guess the former owner didn't grow those so well.

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  11. I love how summertime always has a way of surprising each year with blooms. Michael and I have noticed many of the flowers failing to bloom last year are in full, beautiful bloom this year. Especially the pink and red roses. Your hollyhocks look absolutely you beautiful!!

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