Todays Flowers & Two Fer Tuesday - Hollyhocks!

Early last year, via ABC Wednesday, I found a fellow blue lover Nonizamboni.
We have subsequently became good blog friends, so I know Noni's favourite flowers are Hollyhocks!
They're also rather special to me too!
After moving to my present Victorian house, back in the late 1980's, I scattered some 'collected' seeds, hoping to create a country style cottage garden, as I much prefer old fashioned flowers growing freely to formal borders!
Within a couple of years, I was rewarded with a garden dominated by Hollyhocks, of every hue & colour.

They grew huge & continued to my joy to self-seed in wild abandon.
Hence, happy memories represented by this 1996 photo of my Mother...

Sadly, following Winters were exceedingly wet.

The 'water table' rose & the garden became a mini lake.

It was not home threatening like the events experienced much later, but the Hollyhocks didn't appreciate their roots being submerged & the plants sadly rotted away.
I subsequently re-seeded but never that successfully.
I now, only have, one fine specimen in my back garden with lots of frilly skirted blooms..And, a solitary Hollyhock @ the front, competing with the rambling rose...

But, my neighbours now have them a plenty...

Today's Flowers home is HERE.
Two Fer Tuesday is Jonna's concept.