Home Gardening Garden Flowers Black hollyhock, mysterious beauty

Black hollyhock, mysterious beauty

Hollyhock can come in a deep black color like this single black bloom.

It is all in one: beautiful and original, mysterious and ornamental… Black hollyhock is without doubt one of the most remarkable hollyhocks.

Basic Black hollyhock facts

Name – Alcea rosea nigra
Family – Malvaceae
Type – perennial

Height – 4 to 8 feet (120 to 250 cm)
Exposure – full sun
Soil – sandy

Flowering – June to September

It has the scientific name Alcea rosea nigra and bears black-colored flowers, even though the true color is closer to violet-brown than true black.

This hollyhock isn’t the tallest, but its blooming is beautiful and abundant.

It is a plant that reseeds itself on its own, but sometimes its offspring have slightly different colors from the original brown black, nothing to worry about.

Black hollyhock is amazing when planted with a white wall as backdrop, its color marks a strong contrast that makes it stand out.

Planting and caring for black hollyhock

A tall upright flowered stem of a black hollyhock flower.There are sub-varieties that have simple flowers and others that have double flowers, and both types do best in sandy soil.

Caring for and growing black hollyhock is identical to that of all the Alcea rosea.

Smart tip about black hollyhock

When your black hollyhock have finished blooming, collect only those seeds coming from the darkest plants and flowers. That way you’ll be deepening the hue with every following generation!

Image credits (edits Gaspard Lorthiois):
CC BY-NC 2.0: Scott Davies