It took me around 20 years to get hollyhocks to grow the first time. Since then, they come and go, despite my planting new seed as often as I can get hold of some. I have not seen any growing yet this year, and all kinds of other things are up and going. I have not yet found any new seeds for them either. The forsythias are done, the daffodils and other narcissus are done, the crocus and grape hyacinths, and regular hyacinths are done, the white spirea and bridal wreath bushes are still going. My red flowering quince is still in bloom. The lilacs have not yet bloomed. My peach and pear trees have bloomed, and perhaps been frosted off. I am not sure on them yet. The grass had to be mowed once already. The weeds are going crazy out here. My lilies, irises, peonies are up and doing nicely. Other perennials are poking their noses out. So, the hollyhocks ought to also be up by now. Sometimes I have them several summers in a row, and other times they seem to disappear. I love them, as they are a favorite from when I was little. I remember them growing in our back garden by a white picket fence the year I was 5. That was the same year that a neighbor girl and I used to sit in the alley behind those white picket fences (our whole street had them), and eat her Mother's parsley down to the nubs. I remember my Mother having corn and tomatoes and lettuce and cabbages growing in our garden, and Mother sometimes made sauerkraut with our cabbages. I would have huge clumps of them if they would only grow for me.
My hollyhocks like well-drained soil of a poor quality. Even when I make the effort to try and do everything right, they eventually fail. If I can keep a plant for three years or so, then I am doing well for here. I just let them re-seed at the base and when they come up, I let them be.
