You know I have tried and tried to grow hollyhocks, all unsuccessfully. I have bought plants & I have also tried growing them from seed. I think one problem is that they are very late to emerge from winter dormancy. I do have one hollyhock grown from seed last year. It is one foot tall! Not a very auspicious start, especially considering it is already July. I don't know what the secret is.
Try these, they only grow to a height of 5 feet : ) but they will bloom all season and return with a ....well let's just say you will have plenty coming up for the next few years and more than enough to give away. Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina' (Dwarf Hollyhock)
Also, Okra, Cotton and Hibiscus have very similar flowers since they are all in the Malvaceae (Mallows) family.
@toni I do grow malva. I collected the seeds many years ago from our "farm" in western NY state. They are a wild flower but I love them. They pop up wherever they want (difficult to corale wildflowers I find). They are white or pink. Do you have they? BTW, how is your weather this year?
