This morning, I walked out my front door, and I created a video focusing on my Creme de Cassis Hollyhocks and my Fairy Rose.

Creme de Cassis Hollyhock
Image Credit: American Meadv

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..

The Creme de Cassis looks almost like an old-fashioned single  hollyhock, but it is actually a semi-double flower.

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 typcially only grow single-faced hollyhocks in my garden. My Creme de Cassis is an exception to that custom.

The Fairy Rose
Jacki Kellum Garden

The Fairy Rose is an exquisite little specimen that grows in clusters or sprays.