Hollyhock Chater's Scarlet

Transplant seedlings when large enough to handle into trays or 7.5cm pots. Gradually acclimatise plants to cooler conditions for a few weeks before planting out after all risk of frost 45cm apart.

Rust remedies
I always think of hollyhocks as archetypal cottage garden plants (you often see them growing beautifully in churchyards). The cleaner, sulphur-free air that we all now enjoy, however, means that fungus on roses and hollyhocks is more common. Both plants need tinkering to be at their best.

Rust fungus forms little pustules on the underside of hollyhock basal leaves and often spreads from there up the stem. If you want to grow your hollyhocks right by a path, as she does, they need to look vigorous and healthy. The only way to guarantee this is to use fungicides. If Bordeaux mixture, a traditional copper sulphate-derived remedy, is not enough to hold rust at bay, you may need to use stronger fungicides.

If this all feels far too much like chemical warfare, ignore any rust problems and hide the foliage of your hollyhocks by putting them nearer the back of the border.

Make more plants
Hollyhocks self-sow, so once you have introduced them they should spring up of their own volition, but they will creep to the sunny, open front of the bed. Watch out for this and dig some up and put them further back out of the limelight to get a balanced sweep. Don't transfer them directly, though – they need a short spell of TLC.

Dig up self-sown seedlings and pot them into a 7cm pot. Once the roots have filled it, move them on into a slim, deep pot to accommodate the tap root. 

Read more frequently asked questions about growing Hollyhock seeds