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Replacement for Hollyhocks
Blue Onion
Posts: 2,995
in Plants
I need some suggestions for a replacement for a row of hollyhocks. I've been dealing with hollyhock weevils for the past few years.. and have followed the recommendations of cutting off and throwing away seed heads as soon as they finish flowering. I threw them in the trash to get them away from my house. This year the flower heads shriveled up to nothing and 90% never came close to blooming and those that did look sickly. I assume it's a weevil issue as they were fed and watered from spring onward. They bloomed fine every previous year.. but the problem is across the entire row. So this fall I plan to dig them out and replace them with another tough perennial or a self-seeder.
Soil is alkaline, with about three inches of some sort of brought-in topsoil over rocky clay. It's Utah, so arid desert.. so something that deals with heat and dry fairly well. Dappled sun most of the day, direct sun in the morning.. should be fine for most full sun flowers, but it offers protection from the worse of the direct sun for more delicate plants. I'd like something tallish to cover the neighbors fence.. and fairly easy maintenance.
Soil is alkaline, with about three inches of some sort of brought-in topsoil over rocky clay. It's Utah, so arid desert.. so something that deals with heat and dry fairly well. Dappled sun most of the day, direct sun in the morning.. should be fine for most full sun flowers, but it offers protection from the worse of the direct sun for more delicate plants. I'd like something tallish to cover the neighbors fence.. and fairly easy maintenance.
Utah, USA.
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