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Last month I was singing the praises of the Hollyhock Spring Celebrities series (pictured above). Since then, every single one of my plants—whether it was growing in sun or partial shade—turned brown and shriveled up.
This is not really the look I was going for in my flowerbeds:
I have no explanation. It was a very hot, dry (but humid) summer; however, I kept my plants well-watered with soaker hoses. I didn’t see any pests, and there really weren’t any signs of foliage diseases (like rust) before they just gave up the ghost.
When they were blooming, they were spectacular, so I’m tempted to grow just a few test plants next year to see if the same thing occurs before giving up on them entirely.
For now, consider me unimpressed.