Hollyhock Season

When you stay with us during the summer months, this will be your view out the breakfast-table window. The bronze sculpture is name Fly Away. She is releasing a little song bird.

We love hollyhocks at Fruitlands. To us they are a symbol of putting down deep roots and seeding themselves as a promise of another year to come. This year we even have "volunteers" that have come up in the stones of the driveway.

Hollyhocks develop a long, thick taproot that burrows straight down, resembling a carrot. Because of this deep anchor, mature plants are highly drought-tolerant but notoriously difficult to transplant. The taproot can reach more than 2' in length.

We collect their seeds in the fall. If you want to go home with some, just ask. The best time to plant them is to scratch them into the soil in the late fall.