A friend was reminiscing with me the other day about how she used to make hollyhock dolls when she was a youngster. I remembered doing the same thing - one hollyhock bulb and petals for the body and skirt, one bulb for the head, held together with a toothpick. But the most vivid memory I have about hollyhocks has nothing to do with dolls.
My oldest brother (not the west coast one) was quite a prankster in his youth. One summer when he was about ten years old he heard our mother lamenting about the fact that her Rose of Sharon bush was not blooming. It was a nice healthy looking little bush but no blossoms on it. On the other hand, we had a large number of hollyhocks growing along one side of our country house. One day while she was in the house he got busy and, with tooth picks, attached about fifty hollyhock blossoms all over that bush. Then he excitedly called "Mom, Mom, your Rose of Sharon bush is blooming." She came outside and was very excited at first to see her plant 'blooming.' She pretty quickly discovered the ruse though, and was really not amused when she discovered her denuded hollyhock plants.
I don't exactly remember my brother's punishment but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with weeding the strawberry patch. She figured if he enjoyed fiddling with plants so much he might actually enjoy it. I'm pretty sure he didn't.
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