Russian hollyhock
Alcea rugosa ·
Tall spires of soft butter-yellow, single flowers over rough, deeply lobed leaves. Longer-lived than the common hollyhock, and seldom troubled by rust.
- Size
- 6 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to early September
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around Russian hollyhock
The planner designed this bed around Russian hollyhock when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why Russian hollyhock stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Russian hollyhock × 3, yellow
- 2 Sea thrift × 8, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 8, white
- 4 Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 5, blue
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 5, purple
- 8 Tulip 'Ballerina' × 7, orange
Why this plant
- The only spires. The others are globes, bells, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 6 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' (3 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one clump. A single spire is too slight to hold a place alone, so here the accent is a clump.
Why now
- In flower for 11 weeks. From late June to early September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' and Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' in early July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as a cottage garden: 28 of the 28 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Russian hollyhock and Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Hot and cool in equal measure: yellow and orange against pink, blue and purple, with white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Russian hollyhock goes in a border
At 6 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 6½ ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
The hollyhock to plant where rust ruins the others. Its pale yellow goes with every colour, and the spires give height to a border without bulk.
- Height at the back of a sunny border
- Cottage gardens where rust is a problem
- Soft yellow with blues and purples
What to plant with Russian hollyhock
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Russian sage: in flower together for nine weeks, from mid July; fine leaves against its bold ones.
- Globe thistle: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for six weeks; low enough (3½ ft) to stand in front of it.
- Garden phlox: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for eight weeks; medium leaves against its bold ones; low enough (3½ ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about Russian hollyhock
Does Russian hollyhock need sun or shade?
Russian hollyhock grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does Russian hollyhock grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does Russian hollyhock flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early July to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 6 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should Russian hollyhock be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6 ft (180 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Russian hollyhock plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is there a native plant like Russian hollyhock?
Russian hollyhock is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Rattlesnake master: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 24 in shorter, white, not yellow.
- Tall larkspur: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 12 in shorter, blue, not yellow.
- Showy goldenrod: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 24 in shorter, flowers late August to mid October.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Will Russian hollyhock spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Self-seeds around the parent plant. Pull unwanted seedlings while small.
What flowers after Russian hollyhock?
Russian hollyhock is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Korean feather reed grass: from late August to mid October, 4 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- New England aster: from early September to mid October, 4 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does Russian hollyhock look like in winter?
Russian hollyhock dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Alcea
- Black hollyhock Alcea rosea 'Nigra'
- Hollyhock Alcea rosea
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 6 ft (180 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late June to early September; upright spires; yellow
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.