Beautiful flowers, but the cats get my attention! :-D

I used to call these "grandma flowers" and had absolutely no desire for them. Now...I really would like to have some just like yours! hmmm....wonder what that means! What a nice view you have!

Beautiful hollyhocks! Love all of the colors and like your "hosiery" too! Kitties look very happy in their spot too!

Love the Hollyhocks..DH just weedwacked one of mine!!grrr! Love the pussywillows too!heh heh!

Hollyhocks!!! When I first read your post and the idea about holding them up with hosery, I thought you meant hosiery, not old hose, so I kept looking and trying to figure it out, LOL
Ok that did it my energy is definitely waning, have to go nite nite
Oh by the way those are beautiful Hollyhocks I have never seen them in person just in photos. Did you grow them from plants or seed?

Nanagrandma/Sylvia

I LOVE hollyhocks and this just gets me going today. The wheels are turning...where can I put them...build a new bed...gotta have them again...been years since I grew them...gotta have them again. Kathy, you put a spell on me with your beautiful flowers!! Thanks, I needed that! Cheryl

Wow! Those are real show stoppers and your hose idea seems to be working out. Aren't Hollyhocks bi-annual, I used to have some years ago, but they eventually all died out.
Frou

Gorgeous hollyhocks! I love 'em because they are so tall. They make great flowers for the back of the garden bed or along a wall. Your idea for the garden hose is a good one ... it's soft, pliable and blends in well with the green of the stems. Your kitties sure look like they like the view of the hollyhocks too! I bet they see a lot of hummers stopping by for a drink.

Beautiful, can see why they needed some help, they are so tall. Kitties look like they have the best place in the house to watch the great outdoors! Jan

They self seed everywhere. I am always giving them away. Plus I have some that I swear come back every year in the back of my sunny bed, no mater what the garden books say. I tried to dig them up once, when the plant part was tiny and the root was as big around as my forearm with several small plants coming off it. They have to be small when you dig them because they have a tap root and transplanting is iffy once they get to be more than a foot or so tall.
I had a couple of yellows one year, but none this year.
Kathy

BEAUTIFUL hollyhocks, crete! They look gorgeous out your window & will also look gorgeous at your new screeened porch!

I have the same troubles sometimes...lots of wind...I use willow branches sometimes or tie several HH's tog with twine...but I always have broken ones, too! Here's a pic of mine this year (shades of pink/red)...some protection from the garden shed in bkgrd...the pic is a bit blurry...took it in early evening a few wks ago:

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And here's some light pink ones that bloomed in the Tipsy Bucket fence garden there, too:

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My gr'ma always had hollyhocks & they are a fav of mine for many yrs so I loved seeing your varieties! TFS your idea about the hose ...and the pics! Jeanne s.

Jeanne, you settings are stunning! With your garden art and tipsy pots, wonderful. And the hollyhocks are lovely. I'll have to try willow branches. I'm jealous, my beds are still a wreck from the reno we've been doing the past few years. But thank good ness the flowers come up and bloom anyway!
Since I posted, a new Holly color has opened. Pink with white edges. I've never had that before.
Kathy

I remember my friend and I could hardly wait for her mother's hollyhocks to bloom so we could make dolls with the blooms and buds and toothpicks. that was 47 years ago and I still remember sitting in the shade and making the flowers and fighting off bees. those were the days! Jeanne, your pictures all look like they are professionally done, or should be in Better Homes and Gardens, or one of those mags. thanks for all the sharing. Bev

Ohhhh, I would love some seeds from your white edged red ones (I'd even do a trade), but I just can't seem to grow Hollyhocks. I can get them to grow from seed the first year, but they don't come back to bloom the next year. I don't know what I do wrong, but I love them and they elude me. I keep trying though... thanks for your inspiring photos, what a treat!

Jeannes display is quite lovely as well!! I could only wish for something like you ladies have!!

Shpnquen i'd be glad to send you some seeds (once they ripen.) I can take them from a red with white edged plant, but there is no guarantee what color the seedlings will produce.
Kathy

what gorgeous hollyhocks! all mine are yellow. i love those red ones. i, too, was envisioning a pantyhose like configuration that boggled my mind. its been a long day....

crete...mine are all over the place now, too...wind & storms...that's the price ya pay with "Hollyhocks"...but I still love 'em...so now will have to get in there & cut them down & save the seed. Your "hose" method probably worked stronger than my willow sticks! So my garden shed garden is NOT lookin' so pretty now! LOL! TFS your ideas! Jeanne S.

Oh Kathy!! How sweet of you to do that! It would be worth the effort if that's what I ended up with. Shoot! I'd be happy if I just got flowers! I am more than willing to trade you some other seeds I have in return, if you want something that I have. I sent you an email, hopefully it worked.

Very pretty setting.

I love the covered stick with hose idea

Have never seen or heard of this done before and very attractive.
Just threw out a neat yellow hose that I could not think of anything to do with
To late for that but will keep an eye open for someone else throwing one out.
I have been tying up tomato plants onto stakes but will do more of them and especially next year my Delphiniums which I have in a front yard, garden.
What a neat idea

Now I do have some hollyhocks, black ones that I much like but they get that rust on the leaves and begin to look unsightly .
I just cut them back and put the long stems with seeds on them out along the boulevard so anyone might pick up some of the seeds if they wish before the garbage man takes yard waste.
Thanks so for that tip