I love hollyhocks, though I can’t consciously remember ever seeing them growing up. Since they have such an emotional response from me, I assume that my grandparents had them in their yard. Here hollyhocks are subject to rust which destroys them. Last year we planted a rust resistant variety and they are in bloom right now. They take a full year to grow and bloom, so this is the first flowers we had from them.
My husband is a master gardener and I am a devoted fan of his gardening. My skill rests solely in asking him to plant annuals each late spring. He loves bulbs and perennials but gladly prepares and plants my annual bed each year. I favor sunflowers, zinnia and cosmos, so those are the seeds he plants for me. I am always amazed by how many flowers come up from such inexpensive packets of seeds.
Scattered on the driveway behind the hollyhocks are hundreds of cherry pits. We have a lovely pie cherry tree outside our kitchen window from which I hang our bird feeders. Needless to say, the birds think that the cherries are just another food source we have put out just for them. They eat them as soon as they ripen. I only wish they were more tidy with the pits!
Saved By Words 
Zinnias are my favorite too. They are so happy and lovely. I plant this variety (https://www.seedsavers.org/benarys-giant-zinnia-flower) along one whole edge of my vegetable garden every year, and then all summer we have the most beautiful explosion of vibrant color there, plus it brings in the pollinators which is always a good thing.
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Yes they look like my back row. I have them in tiered rows by height.
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I hope you would feature more of your garden blooms here. Excited to see them.
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I will do. Our plants are very different from yours.
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I’m sorry the birds won’t share the cherries with you!
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I froze them for a few years, but I really enjoy watching the birds get them. This morning a family of downy woodpeckers was grazing together on the tree–parents and two babies.
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Lovely garden Elizabeth. Thank you for the post and pictures and kudos to the gardener
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He is the best for sure.
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Oh, you must have a beautiful garden. These are my all-time favourites. We are just like birds, too, when it comes to cherries.
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I have been asked to post a few more pictures of it, so I will do so now and then.
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My father and mother both garden, Elizabeth, and, seeing as they live on the same property as my family, we get to enjoy the fruits of their labour.
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That is a real treat. It is wonderful to reap the benefits of true gardeners.
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The flowers are beautiful. The birds must be enjoying themselves 😊 Our regards to you husband.
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I will let him know.
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I never knew plants could rust 0_0
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It’s a kind of fungus that looks like rust on the leaves.
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Learn something new every day! 😄
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Not sure what you will do with that bit of knowledge!
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Haha, I’m useless at gardening, so any little bit of info helps a ton!
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Lovely!
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