Creme de Cassis Hollyhock
Image Credit: American Meadows

The Creme de Cassis Hollyhock is named after a French liquer.

“Crème de cassis is a French blackcurrant liqueur that originated in the Burgundy region in the 19th century. The original recipe is thought to have been created in Dijon in 1841 by Auguste-Denis Lagoute, and the liqueur quickly became popular in cafes. “

If you look carefully at the center of the flower, you can see that it looks like a delicious dollup of grape currant jelly.

Today, I noticed that my Creme de Cassis Hollyhock had bloomed.

Image Credit: American Meadows

Single-faced Hollyhocks are hallmarks of cottage gardens. My grandmother grew a mass of hollocks at the back of her garden.

It is largely because of my grandmother that I love gardening. Throughout my childhood, my house was almost directly behind that of my grandparents. I lived in the white house I’ve marked with a star. At least twic a day, I would cross the gravel road in fron of my house and cautiously pass through my neighbors’ yards, until I reached the massive stand of hollyhocks at the back of my grandparents’s property.

From the time I was a tiny child, I made this journey every day, and as soon as I reached the hollyhocks, I felt safe. If only for a minute or two, I would crawl into the thicket of massive plants and swaddle myself with blooms. I called this My Hollyhock House. My grandmother was a simple German lady who had a true Cottage  Garden. Her hollyhocks were single-faced and not double. Since that time, I will only grow single-faced hollyhocks in my garden.

On the best of days, I did so with my pajamas and toothbrush in tow. Those were the days that visits to Grandma’s turned into sleepovers–and the days that I slept on the tall, feather bed in my grandmother’s guest room.

I’ll tell you more about my childhood later, but before I leave the topic of Creme de Cassis Hollyhocks, suffice it to say that I bought this specief because of its simple single-flowering face, and I did that to preserve the essence of my grandmother–if only in some tiny way.

Creme de Cassis Hollyhock
Image Credit: American Meadows

“Since hollyhocks are adept self-seeders, they readily spread. Even though they’re biennials (that means they last only two years), people often mistake hollyhocks for perennials since they may appear year after year due to self-seeding.” Better Homes and Gardens