Hollyhock

Gorgeous colour too Lori, can't grow them here, too hot and dry one side, damp and shady the other.....

Fabulous photo against the dark background and is it really still going now??
I never heard that it is the rainsplashes which cause the rust....will have to do some experimenting here.

the rust is soil borne, M. When the rain splashes soil up onto the stems and lower leaves it deposits spores from the soil on the underside of the leaves..and it's not long til they're furry with orange spots!
The skeleton still stands even with the first five inches of snow. Nov. 17 seems to be the day of our first snow...it's been that date two out of the last three years!

In my old garden i had many hollyhocks and never any rust, i put it down to the hot climate. We didnt get the rain like in the uk but often very heavy storms with hard rain so there would have been a lot of water splasing back up to deposit the soil born spores. Intriguing, but a good excuse to plant hocks here, as if i needed one!
No sign of snow in yorkshire yet, still very mild.