zebra hollyhocks

[Sharon Marie]

Why do they get rust everytime this year?!? They are beautiful ALL summer long, all of the sudden --- bam --- rust appears. What am I doing wrong???

[Kisal]

It's a fungal disease, and the spores are spread by the wind. The first signs are tiny, pinhead-sized pustules, usually first found on the undersides of the lower leaves. The disease overwinters in infected plants, including many other members of the mallow family, such as certain weeds. In the spring, the spores are spread to your garden hollyhocks, so it's a good idea to remove and destroy such weeds whenever they are found nearby.

You can examine the leaves frequently, beginning in the spring, removing any you find that are infected. If you find the infection has spread to one or more of the stalks, remove them. Thinning denser stands of hollyhock can help limit the spread somewhat, but not completely.

Have you tried spraying your plants regularly with a milk and water solution? That is said to work well for fungal diseases.

[lily51]

I wish my hollyhocks would all get something and disappear for good.
Little did Iknow just how invasive they are
I would like any information on how to get rid of them!

[cynthia_h]

As with any flowering plant, the hollyhock's flowers are there to make seeds for next year. Be sure to gather the seed pods before they ripen, so that no seeds will fall to the ground and self-sow.

I did a (sadly) terrific job of this three years running in Berkeley, and woke up Spring of one year to find not a *single* morning glory. I know, I know: they're invasive little demons from Hades....or can be. This stand, however, was pretty small, and I was just trying to keep it from getting larger. But I destroyed it by gathering seed pods.

So I *know* this method works.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Sharon Marie]

I love my hollyhocks. They are so pretty to me. They've not been taking over anything. I have spider grass planted in front of them. When the grass puts out the purple flowers, it looks so good with my hollyhocks. They are white and purple. I do thin them out over the summer though, as they can get very very very viney. I like a neat garden. I will try to use the milk solution. I've not used that before so hopefully this will help next year. I wonder if I'm missing it during the other months, and only noticing the rust when it becomes too prominent. Regardless, I will be checking more often next year