Hollyhock fail

This one is actually pretty funny. About a month ago I planted some fall hollyhock seeds along our front split rail fence. I though those tall, rangy flowers would be perfect in that spot. The idea was that I would get the seedlings going before frost hits, and they would then go dormant and then have a leg up in the spring.

So, with this brilliant plan in mind, I started dragging a hose around multiple times a day. Hollyhock seeds are very stubborn and quite hard to germinate. They need light to germinate, so you don’t really bury them in the dirt. And then you have to keep them nice and moist for the THREE WEEKS it takes for them to germinate. That’s a pretty long time, but there I was, dragging and watering over and over and over.

My first hurdle was my silly chickens. There is a group (really a gang) of older hens who love to make a circle of the house, digging up absolutely everything they can. They have wreaked havoc on any mulch that Montana has dared to lay down. And don’t even get her started on how much they loved eating her hostas. But I looked outside one morning (probably around week one) and there they are - digging up and eating anything green in the hollyhock strip!

I ran out there and screamed at them (which you can imagine made a huge impression), and then I found some light woven fabric and cut strips that I could pin down on top of the bed, thus thrwarting their scratch-and-grab tendencies. The fabric actually did seem to work, and the chickens were no longer attracted to that juicy area. So I proceeded to continue my mad watering for the next few weeks, eagerly awaiting some hollyhock seedlings.

Then, much to my surprise, I found two well-grown hollyhock plants growing happily in the garden! It turns out Montana had tossed a few hollyhock seeds out into one of the rows, and a few actually took. What great luck! Since I am in the stage of removing spent flowers and moving flowers for next year (hollyhocks are officially biannuals, but still), I dug up those two lovely little hollyhocks and transplanted them to the fabric-covered hollyhock area by the front fence. How fun! Two plants to start up my eventually massive row of beautiful hollyhocks.

I should have taken a picture that evening as we watered those transplanted hollyhocks into their new home. First thing the next morning I saw that deer had eaten EVERY SINGLE LITTLE LEAF OFF OF BOTH PLANTS! So after three weeks of mad watering; after creating a custom fabric covering to deter the chickens; after finding two plants with a head start to begin the inspiration - I find out that I can’t have hollyhocks in an unprotected spot like the front fence after all.

So up pulled the fabric, and now at least I don’t have to keep dragging that hose around.

Oh, and p.s. there were only a handful that had germinated after all of that. Hard fail!