In The Garden - July 9

This cool wet year has made some real changes in the way that some of my garden is growing.  Some of the changes aren't all that thrilling...like the spinach that bolted before it ever produced an edible leaf. Some plants, however, have responded to the cooler, wetter environment with gusto.

I've been growing hollyhocks in the backyard for about 15 years.  The seed came from plants that had naturalized in my parents yard in Cottonwood Arizona.  The first couple of years, I planted new plants from seed indoors, setting them out when the spring weather warmed up.  I haven't added any new plants in many years, but because the hollyhock population was dwindling in both size and numbers, I'd planned to add some this year.  It proved to be unnecessary.

 

The largest plant has bubblegum pink flowers.  The fence is six feet tall, so I estimate the height at about seven and a half feet.  It lives in the path in the garden which makes it a bit difficult to maneuver around , but is so lovely that I make it work.

 A white-flowered plant growing up through the middle of my apricot tree.

A pale pink version conveniently growing in an actual flower bed.

A dark pink plant that dwarfs my one-year-old plum tree.  I'm particularly fond of this color!

There are nearly two dozen smaller plants tucked here and there in the orchard and garden. With a little luck, they should spread their progeny far and wide. We'll have a hollyhock thicket again!