Hollyhocks

[shirlton]

 My hollyhocks are rusted again. I started taking the leaves off as soon as I saw it but to no avail, Has anyone got a sure way of getting rid other than pulling them out

[shirlton]

[pigeonseed]

As far as I know the spores are really hard to get rid of. I can only think you should always treat as an annual plant. Collect and burn all leaves on the ground, rid the plot of wild relatives (mallow) and dig up and burn this year's plants.

I wonder if you could move them next year - sow seeds in another patch of garden?

It's such a shame, I love hollyhocks, they're one of my favourite flowers.

Mine have had rust but not bad enough to spoil them - are yours really bad then?

[kt.]

Does the excess rain cause rust or is it caused by something else?

I planted 2 this year, as a first.  (Pink & yellow).  Both have grown to 4ft tall so far but the buds are just beginning to open.  So far so good.

[shirlton]

The worst affected were those I moved from my other plot. Am gonna dig them up and sling them

[pigeonseed]

well as it's a fungus I expect damp conditions don't help.

And overcrowding as well - which is a shame because they're considered a cottage garden plant, and cottage garden borders are often overflowing n densely packed.

I  think hollyhocks are perhaps best grown somewhere not densely packed, they can tolerate that even in hot dry weather anyway. and they look nice against a shed or wall.

You're meant to either dig up and sow from seed the next year, or cut right back to ground in autumn and really clean up all bits of plant debris before winter comes, so the spores die off.

Even with careful hygiene they might get some damage - but hopefully not enough to put a stop to them, just make them a bit spotty.