Hollyhock Summer Carnival

The hollyhock that does not make you wait a year. Sown early enough, in January or February under cover, it runs the whole cycle in a single summer and gives you 1.5m spikes of fully double ruffled flowers the same season. It holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit.

The flowers are the peony-like Chater's type, packed and powder-puffy, in pink, scarlet, yellow and white. They are showier than the singles and of considerably less use to bees, which cannot get past the petals.

The early sowing is not optional. Sow it in April and you have an ordinary biennial that flowers next year, which defeats the point of buying it. It also makes a deep taproot and hates being moved, so raise it in deep pots and plant out without disturbing the rootball.

Rust will find it like any hollyhock. Water at the base, keep air moving round the plants, and cut them down after flowering rather than leaving infected material standing. The bristly stems and leaves irritate sensitive skin, so wear gloves.