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Hollyhocks from seed … double to single ??

gnoshgnosh Posts: 22
in Plants
Hi , I collected seed from double reds last year ( I know that they won’t necessarily be true to parent colour wise but assumed doubles would be doubles)  however the buds from these resemble what will be singles next to my other doubles ? Also the leaf shape is different to the parent plant . Is this a thing ?? I can only find one post online from 14 years ago Maybe what I thought was a true double was actually a hybrid? Thoughts ? 

Posts

  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    edited August 2023
    About 3 years ago i collected seed from a Hollyhock at a friends house that was such a dark blue it was almost black. I carefully planted the seeds that autumn and grew them on for the following season. When they emerged to flower i counted no less than 7 different types of flower from the seed. Edit - One of which had an entirely different leaf shape to the others. 
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Did you pollinate the flowers by hand or just collect seed that had formed at the end of the season? If the latter then you have no way of knowing the history of the other parent plant and like all other creatures that indulge in "cross pollination", anything could turn up in the next generation. From tweaks to leaf shape to colour and petal density you are in the hands of Mother Nature and she can throw up some interesting surprises.
    If you were careful to pollinate the plant by hand and keep the flower isolated from insects thereafter, there is no guarantee you will get exactly what you expected. This is how new varieties come about and why sowing collected seed can be such a rewarding way to garden.
    That pink pom pom is gorgeous by the way.
  • gnoshgnosh Posts: 22
    Thank you :) no I just collected the seed from the dried out seed heads when I saw them in my daughters new  back garden when she moved in , which was overrun and overgrown . Some still had the deep red big ruffled flowers albeit mostly soggy and dying . I said , ‘ooh give mum a paper bag do you know what you’ve got there ’  😂
    Guess I’m in for a surprise ! 😃 a hollyhock lucky dip , that’s way more exciting ! 😃
  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    gnosh said:

    Guess I’m in for a surprise ! 😃 a hollyhock lucky dip , that’s way more exciting ! 😃
    Literally the best thing about growing Hollyhocks!  :#
  • gnoshgnosh Posts: 22
    It’s only my second year of hollyhocks so yes I’m very excited !! These will be end of August bloomers as I planted the seed indoors in Feb,  to be fair wasn’t expecting the blooms this year but they are only 3 weeks behind the others I think judging by the buds , so when everything else is done and dusted these will be my late summer colour , whatever colour that may be 😃 
    Thank you :) 
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    all the fancy varieties of anything seed back closer and closer to the species plant which is the natural form. The fancy ones are selected and crossed and kept in isolation from the hoi polloi to avoid this


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • gnoshgnosh Posts: 22
    edited September 2023
    They are all double reds after all 😳
    Not disappointed , though was looking forward to the lucky dip , they are gorgeous and a wonderful blast of colour when everything else are on their last legs 💕
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