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Penny Carnathan
Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.
Kim Franke-Folstad
Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.
Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.
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The mystery of ‘Cassia? NOT!’—another gardening who-dun-it
Posted Sep 9, 2009 by Loren Omoto
Updated Sep 10, 2009 at 06:09 PM
While Janna and I succulent shopped this weekend, we tried to puzzle out the mystery of what exactly sprang from the cassia seeds I gave her a few months ago.
Desert cassia —my favorite little tree—it was not. (Fyi, the link I’ve got here says they bloom on and off year-round. Mine blooms only for about 6 weeks when the weather starts getting cool, around November. It is gorgeous in bloom, and very pretty when not in bloom.)
These are cassia leaves:
And this is what’s growing from the seeds I gave her.
She saved the cassia pod in a baggie and showed me—proof that it was, indeed, what I gave her. But what’s growing, as she put in the subject line of an email, is Cassia? NOT!
“Could I be growing a giant weed?” she wrote. “Weedus gargantuous?”
I was as curious as Janna. I forwarded her photo of ‘weedus gargantuous’ to Farmer Rick of Riverview Flower Farms. If it were a flower, I figured, he’d know its name. He very kindly—and quickly—solved the mystery.
“Looks like a Vietnamese Hollyhock,” he wrote. “It possibly will make tall spikes with deep rose colored hollyhock flowers that grow well in Florida. I hope I am right as she will be very happy if I am.”
Rick’s answer made perfect sense. At Greenfest last March, I met up with a few Dirt readers and we exchanged seeds and cuttings. Janna was there, but FOD Janice Vogt couldn’t make it. Instead, she gave me some seeds from her prized pink hollyhocks to pass around. Apparently, I did a good job of sharing—just not so good a job identifying.
Hollyhocks must be in the air right now, because as I was emailing Janna’s photo to Farmer Rick, Kim was going on and on about the beautiful hollyhocks she found at a nursery in Venice over the weekend.
“You know I don’t do pink flowers and I don’t do ‘English garden’ but these were gorgeous,” she gushed. “I bought two. I should’ve bought more.”
Here’s hers.
And Farmer Rick, in his email, noted he and his wife have gotten ahold of some pink and white hollyhock seeds they’re looking forward to planting.
If everyone’s doing it, it must be good. I’ll be planting more of Janice’s hollyhock seeds this weekend.
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Reader Comments
Posted by (Janna) on September 09, 2009
OMG! Hollyhocks! What a great surprise. Thank you, Penny, Rick and Kim for solving yet another plant mystery! Janice, I didn’t even know I had your seeds but am VERY happy that I do. The blooms on Kim’s weekend hollyhock purchase are gorgeous and the leaves - well, what d’ya know, they look just like mine! There are a few seeds left in that baggie from Greenfest. I’m going to plant them tonight. Maybe I’ll get more hollyhocks. Maybe I’ll get a desert cassia. One thing’s for sure - now I’ll know the difference!
Posted by (Iluvpumpkins) on September 10, 2009
My Hollyhocks are still alive from last year, not blooming as much but hanging in there. I hope Ricks sells the white ones they would look good together. I am going to plant some seeds this weekend at the school. Janice
Posted by (Iluvpumpkins) on September 10, 2009
I have mine planted in full hot sun with a soaker hose I run it every couple of days. Hollyhocks are a biennial, they grow leaves the first season then bloom the second year. They also self seed. Good luck. Keep us updated.