How to Care for Hollyhocks to Keep Them Blooming

Hollyhock flowers are a perennial plant with an extended blooming period each summer. These beautiful and old-fashioned tall floral spires will tower attractively in a sunny growing area, putting on a lovely display for many weeks during the summer. A gardener can take several steps to encourage hollyhocks to bloom even longer, if desired. With minimal effort, hollyhocks will respond with renewed vigor and blooming energy.

Things You'll Need

• Hollyhocks
• Compost
• Hand rake
• All-purpose fertilizer (water-soluble)
• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Add approximately 2 inches of compost to the top of the soil each spring when the soil is warm enough to work. Use the hand rake to work the compost carefully and gently into the soil around the hollyhock plants.

2. Mix the fertilizer with water according to package recommendations for the size of your hollyhock patch. In early spring, carefully pour the fertilizer onto the soil around the hollyhock plants without allowing the fertilizer to splash onto the foliage of the hollyhocks.

3. Cut off the blooms just under the blossoms when they fade and wilt on the plants. This will help redirect the energy of the hollyhock plants to the formation of new blossoms instead of producing seeds.

4. Repeat step two to fertilize the hollyhocks again after the hollyhock plants begin to blossom in earnest in the summer.

5. Continue to watch the hollyhock plants as they bloom so you will remove all of the blossoms as they fade.

6. Cut the hollyhock plants down to just above the soil level when the growing season is over.

References

• Plan It Earth Design: Perennials