The hollyhocks under my kitchen window finally bloomed this week. The pale green buds and delicate blossoms make them one of my favorite flowers to draw. I’ve been in love with hollyhocks for a long time, but this is the first time that I’ve grown them myself. After reading about them in author Sharon Lovejoy’s book Hollyhock Days, I realized that I, too, needed the companionship of hollyhocks.
I started my hollyhocks from seed last spring and transplanted them to the flower beds around the fourth of July. As with any other biennial, waiting for a plant to produce that you’ve sowed over a year ago can seem agonizingly slow. But when I heard the children exclaim, “Mom, mom, the hollyhocks have bloomed!” it was ample reward for all of my efforts.
Typically you see Hollyhocks straddling white picket fences or hugging the sides of barns or garages, but I didn’t want my hollyhocks growing down by the grain barn where I wouldn’t see them very much. Instead, I planted them under the kitchen and bedroom windows where I can enjoy them daily. Here are a few sketches I’ve made so far this season. For the most part I used a blunt Derwent watercolor pencil dry. The color is Crimson Lake 20 and Olive Green 51. I wrote about planting hollyhocks from seed last year. You can read and see the sketches that Elizabeth and I did there. 
After interviewing nature journalist Richard Bell an English nature journalist, the kids and I are trying to journal more and we’re sure enjoying ourselves. You can listen to this inspiring interview online. For ordering information visit our on-line workshops here. And don’t miss our next workshop. It’s coming up Thursday at 1:00 p.m. central time. Hope to see you and your children there.
Introduction to The Gift of Family Writing by Jill Novak
Thursday, June 21st
1:00 p.m. Central time
Blessings,
Jill
