Recently Cate M, one of the role-players in the 1627 English Village, made us all these great new garden reference books. From A-Z all the plants we have and their many names, uses, and sources.

New favorite reference book.

So today Goodwife Godbertson, aka. Kelley A, showed me her new gorgeous hollyhock plant in her garden. Which I then realized I didn’t know too much about, so I went back to our new book and learned a few things.

Hollyhock

“Hollihock riseth high, seedeth and dyeth; the chief use I know, is ornament.”    -Lawson,”The Country House-wife’s Garden”, 1617-

It goes by the names of hollyhock, hockes, garden mallows, and more. The most common use for it is medicinal, especially in binding and bleeding.

Hollyhock Close-up

And it wouldn’t be a pilgrim seasonings post without a word from Gervase Markham:

“A powder for the stone in the bladder.

For a stone in the bladder take the kernels of sloes and dry them on a tile stone, then beat them to powder, then take the roots of alexanders, parsley, pellitory, and hollyhock, of every of their roots a like quantity, and seethe them all in white wine, or else in the broth of a young chicken: then strain them into a clean vessel, and when you drink of it, put into it half a spoonful of the powder of sloe kernels. Also if you take the oil of scorpion, it is very good to anoint the member, and the tender part of the belly against the bladder.”  -  Gervase Markham, “The English Housewife”, 1615 (Do not try this remedy at home it was the 17th century, just don’t do it.)

So that’s a little information about hollyhocks, who knew? Can anyone guess what this plant on the right is?

Can you guess what this is?