Alcea rosea Chaters Double Rose - Hollyhock

The hollyhock or Alcea rosea Chater's Double Rose, delicately romantic, displays very double flowers in summer, resembling large true pink pompoms with tightly curled undulations that appear to be made of crepe. This very robust plant is often perennial in the southern regions, while it proves ephemeral in cooler climates, where it is often grown as a biennial that readily self-seeds wherever it pleases. It thrives in full sun or partial shade, sheltered from strong winds, in deep soil, even occasionally dry.

The hollyhock is also known by its Latin name Althaea rosea, and its common names adopt all the accents of our regions: it is called Passe-rose, Rose à bâton, Rose papale or primerose. A member of the mallow family, it is native to Asia Minor and often naturalized in wild gardens, fallow land, and mounds of earth. 'Chater's Double Rose' is a variety with very double flowers derived from this wild plant. It is an upright, usually unbranched plant that can reach a height of 2m (7ft) to 2.5m (8ft). It forms a rosette of rounded leaves with 5 or 7 lobes, from which a robust flower stalk emerges, growing very rapidly. These spike-like inflorescences are covered with large buds that open, staggered from June to August, from the bottom to the top, into large very double flowers whose texture wonderfully reflects light. They have a medium pink shade and are tenderly pressed against each other on the stem. Throughout this period, they will attract bees and butterflies to your garden. The flowering gives way to numerous fruits filled with seeds that self-sow spontaneously in the most unexpected areas, as it chooses for itself: at the base of walls, in poor and stony soils, in wall crevices, etc.

Common in abandoned gardens or fallow land in our countryside, the hollyhock is often grown in the back of flower beds or against a wall that protects it from strong winds. The pink pompons of this variety can be combined with dark or light forms, single or double, against a wall or against a conifer hedge. This plant is said to tolerate juglone, a substance secreted by walnut roots; its installation could be attempted at the base of this tree, if there is sufficient light. The hollyhock is an edible plant, the flower buds can be consumed raw in salads and the young leaves raw or cooked.

The hollyhock is both ornamental and medicinal. Oil with drying properties is extracted from its seeds. Rich in mucilage, it has soothing, emollient, expectorant, laxative, and appetizing properties, albeit milder than those of its cousin, the Marshmallow of herbalists (Althea officinalis).