culturec onnection crop culture report: Spotlight Series

Classic staples in the garden, hollyhocks have been around for thousands of years. Jelitto improves on their old-fashioned beauty with these tall, strong and colorful varieties.

By Allen Bush

t’s hard to improve on Henry Phil- and light yellow (‘Sunshine’). with pH of 5.8-6.8. Hollyhocks are not lips’ praise of hollyhocks in 1824’s The Spotlight series grows nearly heavy feeders, and balanced 150- to Flora Historica, where he wrote: 6 feet tall and is a strong, recogniz- 200-ppm nitrogen will promote suffi - “Its noble size, majestic height able presence in the cottage garden or cient growth. Maintain an E.C. of 0.6- and splendid fl owers could not at the back of any perennial border in 0.9. Keep the plugs moist following failI to attract the attention of our ear- well-drained soils. The series combines transplant, but do not overwater. liest collectors of exotic …” These magnifi cently together, in the full sun A constant feed of 50-ppm nitrogen collectors probably found them along with echinacea ‘Hula Dancer’, Eupa- can begin two weeks after germination the Silk Road traveling from Turkey torium fi stulosum ‘Ivory Towers’ and and can be increased to 75-100 ppm into China. Even now, gardeners can helianthus ‘Lemon Queen Strain’. The twice a week with an EC of 1.0 in the seldom walk through a garden center Spotlight series is hardy throughout third week until transplant. Fertilize or look through a perennial catalogue North America from Zones 3 to 9. with a balanced constant feed at 100- without fi nding a few hollyhocks. Gar- 150 ppm once a week in the green- deners have been planting them for Scheduling house with an EC of 1.5. For outdoor a long time. There are Neanderthal Jelitto’s seed technology greatly production, apply 13-13-13 slow-release remains of hollyhocks, from archaeo- improves mechanical handling and fertilizer at a rate of half a teaspoon per logical excavations in Iraq, dating back seed sowing. The alcea Spotlight series quart size or 1 teaspoon per gallon. more than 60,000 years ago. It wouldn’t can be sown any time and requires four be unkind to call them old-fashioned; to six weeks for germination. Sow two Growth Regulation, Disease this classic’s popularity is undimin- to three seeds per cell in 72- or 128-cell and Insect Control ished after all this time. plug trays, then maintain warm green- Allow the plants to dry out thor- Gardeners like them because they house temperatures of 68-75° F for fi ve oughly between watering to prevent the are easy to grow, fl ower the fi rst season days. Germination will be more consis- telltale orange spores of the disease and self-sow around the garden; chil- tent if exposed to moist, cooler temper- , which can be a dren can make dolls’ skirts out of atures (33-41° F) for two to three weeks foliar nuisance but needn’t be a green- the cup-shaped blooms from May to after the brief warm period. Allow four house problem. Alceas are not prone to October; and growers can easily pro- to six weeks from germination to trans- root diseases, though anthracnose and duce salable plants within 12 weeks. in 4- to 5-inch containers; or two cankers have been reported. Slugs and Jelitto has had a passion for alceas plants per gallon size. Plants can be fi n- Japanese beetles can skeletonize garden for many years. The 2010 catalog ished in an additional four weeks. foliage but shouldn’t affect plant pro- includes a wide selection, from wild duction. Pay attention to spider mites species to popular older, double- Culture in the greenhouse. The simplest control fl owering strains. Breeding on the Traditional perennial growers sow for height and for Puccinia is cutting single-fl owering Spotlight series alceas in the late summer in order to back the foliage once the lobed leaves began in 1992; though the task was vernalize over the winter, either in large have nearly covered the surface of the challenging, General Manager Georg plugs or in fi nished containers. Others containers. This reduces the incidence Uebelhart felt that the development of prefer a quick crop sown in winter for of rust in the greenhouse and is also an consistent strains in straight colors of the spring market. Vernalization is not effective deterrent in the garden. GPN would be worth the effort. essential but will improve quality. The result is consistent single fl owers Use a well-drained media that won’t Allen Bush is North American man- of the darkest black-purple (‘Black become overly saturated. The Spotlight ager at Jelitto Perennial Seeds. He can Knight’), pure white with yellow eye series will quickly produce a healthy be reached at [email protected] or (‘Polarstar’), red colors (‘Mars Magic’) root system in a bark and perlite mix 502.895.0807.

From top: ‘Black Knight’, ‘Mars Magic’, ‘Polarstar’ and ‘Sunshine’

36 GPN May 2010 www.gpnmag.com