Hollyhocks: Meet the official flowers of Boulder City
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Visitors and residents in Boulder City, now is the time to catch an array of Hollyhocks in full bloom. The pink, red, white, and sometimes black or yellow flowers aren’t just pretty to look at, they’re the official flower of Boulder City.
“It’s a beautiful flower,” said Cheryl Waites, known as ‘the Hollyhock lady.” “It normally grows around four to six feet.”
Hollyhocks aren’t native to southern Nevada, but for nearly a century, they’ve been part of Boulder City’s roots.
“It blooms in late April all the way through summer, and you can even get fall color, too,” said Waites.
Boulder City is full of history. At the Boulder City Hoover Dam Museum, which is free and open seven days a week, visitors can uncover all kinds of things about the town and its beginnings. There, the Hollyhock takes the stage, helping to tell the city’s story along with pictures and sometimes even theatrics.
Patty Jacobson is a former teacher and Boulder City resident for 50 years. She helps to pass along the story of how the Hollyhock came to be.
“My name’s Grandma Pickett. I’m from Arkansas and I have to tell you, living out here has been one big challenge,” explained Jacobson, playing the role of Pickett. Grandma Pickett is credited with planting and growing the Hollyhocks back in 1931. It was her way of beautifying the desert as so many came to Southern Nevada to help build the Hoover Dam and find a new way of life.
“When they were coming West, they were escaping from the Great Depression as well as the Great Dust Bowl,” said Waites. “Grandma Pickett brought the two things that she loved the most. Her garden and the kitchen.”
Waites said the living history of Boulder City has evolved like the Hollyhock itself.
“It has just adapted its way right along as it goes, each generation that it picks up a little more veracity that it takes to live here and bring some beauty to the Mohave,” Waites said.
The flower found its way across the community, and five generations later, many plant heirloom seeds from the flowers that started it all.
“It’s a wonderful tie to our history,” Waites said.
Waites keeps the tradition alive with the younger generation as well. At Little Lambs Childcare, the children took part in a planting lesson in which Waites explained how to plant the seeds and handed them out.
“Hold your hand out, and I’m going to give you so many seeds you can start a hollyhock forest,” she said. “When we say we’re Boulder City grown, it’s not just the plants and flowers that we’re talking about.”
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