Discussion

Tachiaoi (Alcea Rosa) (L. Malvaceae)

There are over 80 species species of alcea, otherwise known as hollyhocks, native to Asia and Europe.

A North American plant called the streambank wild hollyhock is not related to alcea.

Some hollyhocks, annuals, live their entire life cycle in one year and then die. Others, perennials, bloom year after year. A few, biennials, are like annuals in that they bloom once, but they take two years to complete the cycle, dying after blooming in their second year. A popular hollyhock in Japan, tachiaoi (alcea rosa or common hollyhock), is a biennial.

In the first year, tachiaoi is mostly just leaves close to the ground. Leaves are as much as 5 inches in diameter.

The second year is when the tall, erect stalk grows as much as 8 feet tall, festooned with blossoms.

These blossom are doubled, but most tachiaoi blossoms are simpler.

Tachiaoi comes in a variety of colors; white, pink, dark red, orange, yellow, etc. They look purple in the photo above.

Some tachiaoi have multiple colors.

Bees are common pollinators.

Pollinated blossoms produce seeds.

The seeds can result in gardens full of color. Besides, bees, hummingbirds and butterflies like them, too. Unfortunately, so do snails, Japanese beetles, and spider mites.

Hollyhocks are used in Chinese medicine to soften skin and as a laxative. It helps control inflammation and as a mouthwash, it is used to treat bleeding gums.

Aoi Matsuri is an annual festival and parade that is supposed to be held in Kyōto every May 15. (For some reason, it was held on May 16 this year.) Legend has it that after a series of disasters in the 6th century, an emperor successfully preyed to the gods for relief. The ensuing annual celebration became associated with hollyhocks, a symbol of Kamo Shinto shrines. Hollyhocks were thought to ward off thunderstorms and earthquakes. Aoi Matsuri became especially big during the Heian period (794-1185), but it is still celebrated today. Tachiaoi sprigs are supposed to be worn by celebrants. Look for them in the photo below.

Some Japanese associated with Kamo shrines have adopted a stylized tachiaoi family crest.

Artwork

Ogata Kōrin (1658 – 1716)

Kōrin was one of the founders of the decorative Rinpa school of art. He is especially noted for his byōbu of irises based on a poem in Ise Monogatari (Tales of Ise), written about 980 AD. Several of his paintings are national treasures. The date of the hollyhock painting below is uncertain, but clues lead scholars to believe it was painting late in Kōrin's life.

Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826 – 1869)

Hiroshige II was a student of Hiroshige, the great ukiyo-e landscape painter. After Hiroshige's death, he married his daughter and inherited his name. His style of painting is similar enough to Hiroshige's that scholars sometimes have a hard time telling them apart. The print below is from an 1866 series titled 36 Selected Flowers.

Ohara Koson (1877 – 1945) 

Koson was a leading member of the shin-hanga (new prints) movement. The aim of the early 20th century movement was to restore traditional Japanese subjects, techniques, and values to hanga (woodblock prints). The hollyhocks painting below was printed in 1910.