I haven’t grown old-fashioned hollyhocks in so long that I don’t even have any digital images showing them growing in my garden. I think I bought my first digital camera in 2004.
One reason I stopped growing hollyhocks is because when the Japanese beetles arrived in our part of southern Wisconsin about 15 years ago, hollyhocks were one of their favorite plants to devour and skeletonize (second only to roses which I also gave up on after a few years of disappointment).
The numbers of this exasperating shiny beetle seem to have leveled off in the last couple of years (she says with fingers and toes crossed), so I’m going to give hollyhocks another try this year.
During a recent virtual garden expo in our area, an expert included hollyhocks on a list of “old-fashioned flower favorites” that attract bees and other pollinators.
I used to grow ‘Summer Carnival’ which blooms the first year from seed. That cultivar is still available, so in a few weeks I will start some plants indoors.
If I recall, some of my hollyhocks grew 8 or 9 feet tall. We’ll see if the bunnies and beetles let that happen this summer!