Hollyhock Haven

Today's image was taken at the The Friars (our local Carmelite Priory). I've always loved hollyhocks and we used to have copious amounts of them in our garden - with one hardy soul even growing in the middle of our driveway!
Sadly over the years they have all slowly disappeared and they seem to be quite a rarity in other local gardens too. So I was so happy to see this fine crop against the wall of a gatehouse at The Friars. What really stood out was the dark aubergine colour (not a colour I had seen before) of the flowers against the pale stone wall. Lovely!