Boulder City Magazine is a monthly publication full of information about Boulder City and Southern Nevada. Boulder City Magazine features the Boulder City Home Guide, a real estate guide to Boulder City and Southern Nevada.

BC Horticulture
by Cheryl Waites
Boulder City Community Gardens

Our Beloved Hollyhock



‘Tis the Season.’ To be thinking Hollyhocks, that is. These tall colorful flowers hold a special place in the heart and community of Boulder City. They are our official flower and even have a day of celebration: May 8th. Why all the hubbub? It’s all in the story of the hollyhock.

Way back at the beginning of our town, one of our most notable 31ers was a colorful character named Grandma Pickett, coming all the way from Arkansas. She brought lots of plant and succulent cuttings, seeds and starts along with her, just as some might have packed other household items to bring on their journey to the building of the dam. In one of her mason jars were hollyhock seeds.

Grandma Pickett showed the Godbey kids and other neighborhood young’uns how to grow the hollyhocks from the seeds, and how to harvest the seeds from the plant after it flowered. That guaranteed they would have more hollyhocks growing the next year. This began the legacy of the hollyhock. Each year, hollyhock seeds have been collected and planted, giving us our ‘heirloom hollyhocks.’ So, of all the hollyhocks you see around town, there’s a pretty good chance they’re heirloom hollyhocks.

Plantings are done all around town, and seeds and plants are available at the Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum. Take advantage of this time of year to get to know this treasure of a flower. By growing our heirloom bloom and sharing the story, you become part of the family and legacy of our very own, our beloved hollyhock.

Happy Gardening!




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