A year ago, I purchased Hollyhock seeds envisioning the beautiful flowers you see above anchoring a garden here and there.  I have always admired them growing wildly against the sides of a barn or randomly bordering a beautiful farm house.  So I planted and much to my dismay ended up with just low growing large leaves……so much for that.  Well imagine my surprise when they just appeared in the spring and turned into these towering blooms!  I don’t know too much about Hollyhocks, but I knew they were bi-annuals, meaning they come back every other year by self seeding.  I don’t know what the magic was here, since I didn’t have blooms last year, but I will be collecting the seeds from the spend blooms and replanting again.

We have had plenty of rain this summer, and as a result, many of my perennials are thriving!  Spiny Bears Breech is a plant I admired in a friends garden years ago.  They are not a common plant you would find your local nursery, but if you can find them they are true show-offs for your garden and the blooms will last for weeks!  They will continue to get bigger every year and can become a little invasive.  Plant them in full sun.