Hollyhock Appleblossom

The hollyhock everyone pictures when they think of a cottage garden. 'Appleblossom' throws up spires of two metres or more, hung with single flowers in soft blush pink fading almost to white at the edges, each one centred with a boss of gold stamens.

Being single rather than double matters more than it sounds. The open face gives bees a clear route to the pollen, which the frilled double forms simply do not. Stand a row against a warm wall or fence and it will hum through July.

Sow in early summer, plant out in autumn, and it flowers the following year. It is a biennial by habit, though it often lingers a third season, and it will drop enough seed around its feet to keep itself going indefinitely if you let it.