Hollyhocks have grown in Britain for at least 500 years, saysVAL BOURNE

When I was a small child my uncle had the best job any uncle could possibly have. He was a chocolate salesman and every anniversary, birthday, high day and holiday were celebrated with the arrival of a massive box of chocolates.

Often these single-layer, tray-sized offerings would depict a black-and-white cottage in high summer. In the foreground there would be a towering stand of colourful hollyhocks poking up to the thatched eaves and beyond.

The idyllic cottage with its cruck beams may have been hundreds of years old.

But it is just possible that the planting of hollyhocks that graced the sun-baked walls could have been as old as the cottage itself, because hollyhocks have been grown in British gardens for more than 500 years and possibly longer.

They are mentioned in the first gardening poem ever written in English, The Feate of Gardening by Jon Gardener. This can only be dated to pre-1440 (but it may be older) and it shows that the impressive and stately hollyhock has been wooing gardeners for centuries.

Hollyhocks were initially grown for their medicinal properties and the flowers were infused to cure chest complaints.

Indeed their generic name of Alcea comes from althaia, which is Greek for cure. Hollyhocks are native to the rocky slopes of Asia Minor and Alcea rosea grows wild in Palestine.

It is thought that Edward I's wife, Eleanor of Castile, collected some seeds circa 1270 while travelling with her husband during the Crusades. They were called Holy due to their geographical provenance and the word hoc (Anglo Saxon for mallow) was added as well.

At first, most hollyhocks were single and cottagers, who nearly always had hives for honey production, must have found them useful bee plants in August, when few flowers are at their best.

In 1880, William Chater became famous for breeding a double strain still available today and now known as Chater's Double Group. These full rose-like blooms are the forerunners of more modern varieties and they come in single colours or shades which can vary from almost-black to off-white.

One of the most beguiling newer varieties is the soft, pinky peach Apple Blossom' from Thompson and Morgan. Majorette Double' is brasher and shorter and I personally think hollyhocks should reach for the sky.

I also like single-flowered forms and always try to grow the soft-lemon species Alcea rugosa (available from Chiltern Seeds).

Hollyhocks are short-lived perennials for well-drained soil and full sun and they enjoy warm walls.

Like many flower-packed plants that produce lots of seeds, they tend to burn themselves out early so it is best to raise new plants every year to replace the failing ones. You can do in this in two ways.

First by sprinkling ripe seed on the ground or second by sowing seeds in pots in early spring. Prick them out, pot them up and plant outside in late May. They will most likely flower in their second year.

Renewing plants regularly helps to prevent hollyhock rust which can pepper the plants with unsightly rusty spots and reduce vigour. It tends to be more of a problem in warm, wet summers.

Meticulous tidying in autumn is the best cure. Cut down the spikes, remove any infected leaves and ditch any badly-infected plants. After all gardening is a ruthless business!

Don't forget to send details of your gardening events to gardening@nqo.com Seed Suppliers Thompson & Morgan 01473 688 821 www.thompson-morgan.com; Chiltern Seeds, 01229 581137 www.chiltern seeds.co.uk