Is it worth it to move hollyhocks?

[hedgehog]

I have a bunch of volunteers in front of the porch, but it is so shady the buds never open and the leaves die off. I know the plant is a biennial. Does this mean that these plants will die this fall? I have sunny spots to move them to if they will come back again next year.

[TygrBright]

1. It's certainly worth a try... what have you got to lose?

They might or might not come back, but why not give it a whirl?

helpfully,
Bright

[Bjornsdotter]

2. I think

...IIRC I used to move them early in the spring, but they have a long taproot and don't always transplant well.

Cheers

[OnionPatch]

3. Yes, if they are still young

I transplanted a bunch of them last fall. They were volunteers that had started growing last spring. They ranged from six inches to a foot tall. I had heard you shouldn't transplant them, but they were headed for the compost pile otherwise, so I figured it was worth a try. They all grew and bloomed very nicely this year. I'm guessing it's the older ones that are harder to move. So I would say, go ahead and move them if they just appeared this spring.

[bleedingheart]

4. to be honest you can move most any plant as long as it is not flowering

I have moved hollyhocks multiple times and had the all live.

[hedgehog]

5. Thanks - I didn't want to move them if it turned out they died after flowering!

[LWolf]

6. If you want to move them, you can.

Hollyhocks volunteer so vigorously that I would just take a couple of seed heads and scatter them where you want plants, then remove the plants in the shade. :shrug:

[uppityperson]

7. Some of mine flowered the first yr and have never died off.

I gathered chocolate hollyhock seeds from a place they were growing and scattered them around. Some flowered that yr and have never died off yet. Try moving them because they aren't doing good where they are and they might elsewhere. Good luck.