So, I knew hollyhocks were edible, and I knew they were a mallow, like hibiscus and okra (and common mallow, which is an abundant weed in my area). The leaves taste quite good, too. I’m not a big fan of mucilaginous textures, though, so the sandpaperiness of the leaves, followed by a slimy texture, wasn’t my favorite. I had tried a few fresh flowers and found they were pretty good, but I had never bothered to try the dried flowers . . . until now.
Oh, my gosh, they taste exactly like marshmallow. Except with a crisp, flaky texture, of course, since they’re dried.
I was previously thinking, “Yeah, they’re ornamental, and they’re amazingly heat tolerant and drought tolerant, but I don’t like the flavor enough to consider them more than an ornamental that can double as starvation food.”
But those dried flowers . . .! Especially since I can nab them off seed pods that are already formed, so it doesn’t even conflict with the plant forming seeds . . .!
Apparently I need to plant these throughout my food forest. (Grin.)
I just ate some flower buds of swamp rose mallow and found them to be pretty decent food. You might consider it. I’m not very familiar with hollyhock so I’m not sure if the buds are big enough for that to be worthwhile
I imagine swap rose mallow is quite good. And marsh mallow (the plant that, shockingly, marshmallows were originally made out of ) is probably excellent. But I’m thinking I’ll avoid both, because they both grow in very wet areas, which makes me think they probably wouldn’t be very drought tolerant. High drought tolerance is very important to my climate.
The common mallow (Malva sylvestris) is having an outstanding year here in the UK, probably because it’s been a wetter summer. I’ve eaten the leaves and the seeds, but not tried the flowers or flower buds yet. I imagine they’d be quite edible, too.
Good point! The common mallows in my area are flowering right now, and I’ve never tried the flowers, only the leaves. If I happen to see one that’s flowering, I’ll try to remember to give the flowers a taste.
@UnicornEmily Thank you for this! I was wanting to get hollyhocks started, just from nostalgia, my mother grew them. Now I’m definitely populating my entire property with them! And I know in my area they can be started in the fall to hopefully bloom next summer.
It’s possible you could even start some now. My hollyhocks are dropping seeds all over the place right now, and a few of them have landed in places I’m currently watering (because I have other plants there), and they’ve sprouted.
You might see if anyone in your area grows hollyhocks. If so, theirs may be covered in seed pods full of finished seeds they’d let you collect right now.
Huh! Perhaps swamp rose mallow can grow well here! I have a neighbor with a bush of enormous flowers that look like hibiscus, and I suspect that bush is rose mallow because that’s the species with the largest flowers. I’ll have to ask her how drought tolerant the bush is.
Yeah, that’s how I felt about the fresh hollyhock flowers. It wasn’t until I tried them dried a few days ago that my eyebrows really went up. Maybe it may be worth seeing if you can try some dried!
I would be very interested in hearing about its requirements in your climate.
Because you’ve said that, I’m thinking about the weather here. We had a very dry period here this spring when I was caring for some seedlings and some propagated cuttings.
Putting this all together, I wonder if it’s true that H. moscheutos can handle periods of dry desert weather as long as their roots get either drip irrigation or let dry but flooded twice a week. I did not need to water them as often as squash with a similar level of development. They were more like tomatoes in that I could just dump a bunch of water when I noticed them drooping.
I couldn’t find any dried petals on the nearby mallows, though some seed pods are forming. Possibly because the mallow petals are smaller and thinner they shrink to nothing, while the hollyhocks don’t? I’ll need to watch them. And the nearby patch of hollyhocks - there are some feral ones outside someone’s fence I can sample flowers and save seed from.
I’m not sure how often she waters them, so I definitely should ask! She also has rose of sharon bushes and ornamental morning glories, which are supposed to be drought tolerant once established, but (the Internet says, at least) they need water in order to bloom a lot, and they all bloom profusely.
Hmmm. Actually, she has a green lawn, so she probably has sprinklers on a timer that go several times a week, like most of my neighbors do. (I don’t. I xeriscaped. I’m water-stingy. )
So that probably doesn’t say too much about how drought tolerant the swap rose mallow is, because she may not be letting it dry out that much.
Ooh, feral hollyhocks can be fun! Mine are all basically feral – they volunteered from my neighbor’s patch in 2020, and have self-sowed themselves in a few more spots every year ever since.
Yuck! I cant imagine eating raw eggplant let alone raw hollyhock leaves! They are so much better cooked in a little olive oil, and with some more cut up veggies and spices.
) is probably excellent. But I’m thinking I’ll avoid both, because they both grow in very wet areas, which makes me think they probably wouldn’t be very drought tolerant. High drought tolerance is very important to my climate.
