I cut the seeds from the mama when they are brown and dry. Some may start to open, that is o.k.

I leave them in the pods and store them in paper coin envelopes that I buy at the office supply.

This is my first experience with hollyhocks, and I am just totally thrilled. My friend in Idaho shared seeds with me, and I planted them in the spring last year. I have lots of babies in the garden that reseeded from the mama. I am going to put them where I want them to grow. I think they will make it through our winter just fine, I worry more about the heat of our summer. I am also going to sow some seeds and try and keep track of their progress, so I know more about what I am doing with them.

My hollyhock is red, and grew to about 10 feet, covered in beautiful dark green foliage and gorgeous red flowers. I am happy to share seeds. Would you have a yellow seed pod to share?

OR is that allowed here? Just slap me if it is not. I am not familiar with the customs on this forum.

Janie

Well, folks--they're biannual. If you sow them now, fresh, they should germinate and grow into nice little plants this season. That means they may bloom next year--so why wait to plant till next spring? Same with columbine if you have that seed, too. Also, this will speed up the blooming wait on oriental poppies and lupine--

Just my 2 cents. This is what I do, and it works for me :)

So you do that with poppies up in Wisconsin too? I hadn't thought about that. They would not survive the winter would they? Or do the poppies not sprout until the following spring. I tried planting some here in zone 7 last fall and sure enough they came up with the first glimpse of spring.
Still experimenting with poppies, they are most interesting flowers.