A Special Hollyhock.

I am joining in with the favourite peak meme atdangergardenthis hebdomad with a very special plant . I have written about it before , but it is so adorable I have to observe it again . It is my best-loved flower at the moment . It has been in bloom for old age . It is a althea which is n’t a hollyhock . In fact there seems to be some confusion about what it is . You some times feel it list as aMalvaand sometimes as anAlcea . It is neither of these things ; its correct name is xAlcalthaea suffrutescens‘Parkallee’ . This beautiful plant flowers in August and September , long after ordinary hollyhocks have finished . It is a perennial and every yr the lump get cock-a-hoop and bigger and cause marvelous and tall . It can accomplish 3 metre high and has easy attained this in my garden . The color of the flowers is the palest peach or would you call it burnt umber with cream ? They are semi duple with a pretty ruffle in the centre and purple tipped stamens . As the flowers age they become creamy . I read in the September progeny of Gardens Illustrated that the rootage of this plant is unknown . I do n’t know why there is so much confusion about it . I have take care it suggested that one of its parent could beKitaibeliaor evenHibiscus syriacus . There is actually no enigma about its origins . It was bred in Hungary in 1953 by Prof. Zoltan Kovats and then propagated in East Germany and made uncommitted in the 1990s . He want to breed a althaea that was resistant to the awful rust : Puccinia malvacearumwhich usually disfigure them . He used a hollyhock : Alcea roseaas one parent and crossed it with the wild marshmallow : Althaea officinalis .. This endearing flower is becoming rare in the wild although it grows in profusion on the slide at Dunwich in Suffolk , and I showed one in a late post . If you look at the leave of the marshmallow you will see that they are the same healthy , blue - green as the I of the Alcalthaea . I bed this plant ; it make better and better with age , although it does need to be stake or it topples over . It does n’t set seed but is very easy from press clipping . I have late acquire its sister plant : xAlcalthaea suffrutescens‘Parkrondell ’ which is pink . Now I am face for the gentle pinkish one ‘ Parkfrieden ’ which does n’t seem so promptly available . There was also one call ‘ Parktraum ’ but it seems to have been lose . I do n’t think it was ever available in this country . If you make out hollyhock , then look out for these adorable , later unfolding beauties . But allow plenty of room for them , because in a dyad of years they will be taller than you . You will have long steeple stud with these gorgeous satiny flowers in the most delicate colours .

68 Responses toA Special Hollyhock.

A wonderful plant – a rust free althea would be a dream ! Thanks for sharing this , I ’ll be calculate for one .

What a adorable works . I have uprise Kitaibelia but the flowers are small and the plant rather coarse . This look magnificent in compare . It is a pitty Alcalthaea does not produce cum . If it did , it would be easier to get .

It ’s a beautiful flora . It does n’t seem to be available on this side of the pond , however . Although I suspect it would n’t do well in my mood , I can dream …

Interesting . I can see why it ’s your favorite this week … and also why people get confused about it . Lovely plant !

What a very interesting blog ! flock of very utile info which I will make a note of and also enquire the site offered by one of your readers . By the manner , our lone Hollyhock ( inscrutable pinko ) is still in bud but the whole plant looks in dependable wellness so the pleasure , hopefully , is all to come .

What a beautiful plant , I peculiarly like the pink one , that babble to me !

Oh….what an recherche plant , I would dearly love to have one too , now I have hollyhock and musk and marshmallows , how do I get them to bring out your jewel ? A really adorable post , I did savor it.xxx

Oh what a sweetheart Chloris . I ’ve translate about this one in magazines and have been undecided but from what you say it lives up the hype . I ’m now positive 🙂

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give thanks you for this very interesting post which I ’ve just discovered after a google search on xAlcalthaea suffrutescens‘Parkallee ’ . I hope to reference your blog in my RHS Level 2 exam if I get a question regarding plant naming rules about hybrid . Parkallee is a endearing plant that I hope to have one Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .

I have desperately been trying to source Parkallee to no avail , I wrote to one nursery who used to stock up it to ask why it is n’t usable anywhere in the land and they said “ I think it is rare because we struggle to keep it over winter and I think others do too . although we have stupefy one in the garden , it never does well enough to disperse which is thwarting for all of us ! ” I roll in the hay you could not grow it from seed only cutting , but sure someone stock it ?

A Special Hollyhock.