Who's a pretty boy then? (Classic Gardening) - Garden Plants and Gardening Forum

Classic Gardening · 11-08-2007, 10:14 PM

Now, this is exactly the sort of thing that happens in the undesigned garden. Things appear. Other things disappear. Take this handsome specimen. It’s a hollyhock, that much I know.
It started life, in March or so, as a low-slung little thing with big leaves. It popped up in the middle of the vegetable patch, close to where a butternut squash had been last year.

As it happened, I later popped some other squash plants in around it, and for a long time it sat there disguised as one of them.

But then it started to grow – up, not out, as its neighbours did. It did a beanpole act through the summer, looking more and more like a hollyhock all the time, then it promptly fell over during a windy, rainy night in August. So I propped it up, which is why you see it wearing splints.

Now, in any but an undesigned garden, it would have been hoiked out of the ground yonks ago. But I’ve developed a Live and Let Die policy – rather like James Bond but with a bit more garden maintenance.

Under this policy, if it wants to be here, and it can survive, it is welcome. If it goes all limp on us because the summer is too dry or too wet, then it can organise its own funeral.

After all, with climate doing the things it is, it makes sense to work with the plants rather than against them. Too many garden centres are full of things that will never survive. My local Wyevale (Why-oh-Wyevale we call it, given it is so utterly pointless) is currently bulging with heather.

Heather. London Clay. No.

In our early gardening years we bought heather, rhododendrons and azaleas on the grounds we liked them and had a shady garden. I nursed them along with dressings of ericaceous compost and dousings of ericaceous liquid fertiliser, but in the end they gave up the ghost whatever I did.

So this handsome, 7ft hollyhock is welcome. I’ve no idea where it came from, but I’m going to try to keep it, gathering seed and planting up in the spring.

Having banged on about it so long I really feel I ought to give it a name or, rather, find its name. You’ll have to bear with me here because I’m struggling.
I’ve been on the BBC gardening website, typed in hollyhock and got back this:
“We couldn't find exactly what you were searching for but found these results that sounded similar:
Halesia monticola, Mountain silverbell, Hedera helix, Hedera helix 'Glacier', Hedera helix 'Goldchild'

Sorry, but that’s not even close.
Even the proper name, Alcea, is no help. I got back the usual “We couldn't find …” followed a list that included agapanthus and allium but nothing of any earthly use.
So I tried the next stage, answering all sorts of multiple choice questions. That takes a while and delivers precisely no results
So I try the RHS site where all it gives you are lists of plant names without pictures, so if you don’t know what you are trying to match your specimen to you are none the wiser.
I mean it could be Alcea Blackcurant Whirl, or equally it could be Park Rondell. But without a picture, how the bloody hell do I know?
In short, there ain't a decent site for people who like gardening but don’t know a lot about it.
So, for now, I can only leave you with a picture. Any ideas, do shout.

More...

11-08-2007, 10:14 PM	#1
Classic Gardening Green Thumb Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 92	Who's a pretty boy then? (Classic Gardening) Now, this is exactly the sort of thing that happens in the undesigned garden. Things appear. Other things disappear. Take this handsome specimen. It’s a hollyhock, that much I know. It started life, in March or so, as a low-slung little thing with big leaves. It popped up in the middle of the vegetable patch, close to where a butternut squash had been last year. As it happened, I later popped some other squash plants in around it, and for a long time it sat there disguised as one of them. But then it started to grow – up, not out, as its neighbours did. It did a beanpole act through the summer, looking more and more like a hollyhock all the time, then it promptly fell over during a windy, rainy night in August. So I propped it up, which is why you see it wearing splints. Now, in any but an undesigned garden, it would have been hoiked out of the ground yonks ago. But I’ve developed a Live and Let Die policy – rather like James Bond but with a bit more garden maintenance. Under this policy, if it wants to be here, and it can survive, it is welcome. If it goes all limp on us because the summer is too dry or too wet, then it can organise its own funeral. After all, with climate doing the things it is, it makes sense to work with the plants rather than against them. Too many garden centres are full of things that will never survive. My local Wyevale (Why-oh-Wyevale we call it, given it is so utterly pointless) is currently bulging with heather. Heather. London Clay. No. In our early gardening years we bought heather, rhododendrons and azaleas on the grounds we liked them and had a shady garden. I nursed them along with dressings of ericaceous compost and dousings of ericaceous liquid fertiliser, but in the end they gave up the ghost whatever I did. So this handsome, 7ft hollyhock is welcome. I’ve no idea where it came from, but I’m going to try to keep it, gathering seed and planting up in the spring. Having banged on about it so long I really feel I ought to give it a name or, rather, find its name. You’ll have to bear with me here because I’m struggling. I’ve been on the BBC gardening website, typed in hollyhock and got back this: “We couldn't find exactly what you were searching for but found these results that sounded similar: Halesia monticola, Mountain silverbell, Hedera helix, Hedera helix 'Glacier', Hedera helix 'Goldchild' Sorry, but that’s not even close. Even the proper name, Alcea, is no help. I got back the usual “We couldn't find …” followed a list that included agapanthus and allium but nothing of any earthly use. So I tried the next stage, answering all sorts of multiple choice questions. That takes a while and delivers precisely no results So I try the RHS site where all it gives you are lists of plant names without pictures, so if you don’t know what you are trying to match your specimen to you are none the wiser. I mean it could be Alcea Blackcurant Whirl, or equally it could be Park Rondell. But without a picture, how the bloody hell do I know? In short, there ain't a decent site for people who like gardening but don’t know a lot about it. So, for now, I can only leave you with a picture. Any ideas, do shout. More...

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