Lordy, I have fallen seriously in love with this gorgeous double hollyhock. There is something so frightfully Enid Blyton about hollyhocks - making me think of midnight feasts of strawberries with lashings of double cream, bossy matrons and lacrosse sticks.
I bought this beauty from Frogmore Gardens in July and nursed it through frantic attempts by earwigs to disembowel it. The champagne splendour has more than repayed me for my attentions. And look how delightful it looks against a swathe of achillea. I'd like to take full credit for this plant combination but I am a completely clueless gardener. Luckily, there are times when the planets align, horticulturally speaking.