I saw these at UBCBG today and thought they were mallow, but now I'm not sure and I'd like to know. Thanks.
Looks like Alcea rosea. Common name Hollyhock. Same family Malvaceae. Much loved in English cottage gardens. Comes in many colours. A tall statuesque plant. http://lh6.ggpht.com/luirig/R5rlJpTdDRI/AAAAAAAAApw/NS_SkbPJ8sY/s800/alcea_rosea_4.jpg http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=Al...&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1242&bih=529 http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=ho...&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1242&bih=529
I can't believe it. Well, I do believe it, I just can't believe that I didn't get it. I just posted some photos on flickr that I identified as hollyhocks, and I never connected those to these flowers. For one thing, the others were double blossoms, like the fifth one under Page 3 on your last link, and they were on tall upright stems, with long spikes of flowers, which was always what said "hollyhock" to me. These have one or two flowers open on each droopy stem. I even took a close-up of the blossoms on the others and didn't connect them to these. I just thought, oh, another plant with big fuzzy blossoms. Sigh! Well, "tall" and "statuesque" they were not. OK, I think I get it now. There is a lot of variety in them - those google pages you've linked to are great. Thanks, Silver surfer.
I just figured out why I didn't get it: Here's a hollyhock I recognized last week, with the spike of flowers topped by the unopened buds, so coming to a point at the tip. The UBC plants had the opened flowers at the ends of the stalks, with the unopened buds either lined up after them or clustered in back of them. Also, the fence was missing! Aren't hollyhocks traditionally planted next to a white picket fence? Or in this case, a chain-link fence. No wonder I couldn't tell.
Hmm - the unopened buds on top excuse doesn't entirely hold up. Here's a hollyhock on a city street from today with the open flowers on top. But it looks like a hollyhock.
