Hollyhocks are questionably perennial. Some are biennials, like foxglove, and those are not going to live long after they bloom no matter what.

I don't know if this will work for hollyhocks, but i have a gardening friend who says if you don't let bi-annuals set set (flower, but not set seed), that helps them come back as a perennial. might be worth a try ;-)

j.

Hollyhocks are biennial, which means that the first year, they grow leaves and roots to settle in to survive the winter. Then the second year, they flower, set seed and die. I have heard that some people have success with deadheading them so the plant can't set seed, and therefore lives another year, but it hasn't worked for me.

What most people do is let them go to seed, and let the seed fall. Hollyhocks are so incredibly easy to grow from seed, I'm not sure why people would buy new plants... unless it's to skip the first year and go directly to the second, blooming year. Anyway, if you let the seed fall, you will have some plants blooming every year, while next year's plants grow strong so that they may overwinter. That's the plant's natural rhythm, and it's worked pretty well for me... I've had a beautiful stand of hollyhocks for three years now.

Fran,
There are some that are perennial at least for a few years. I think the best way to get them is to buy seed of varieties that state that or trade for seeds on the seed exchange forum.
For the ones you've bought at the garden center, you can save seed or let them seed in your garden and hopefully some will germinate. You'll have to wait for blooms again, but you can always buy ready to bloom ones next year again.
Remy

Some sorts, sold as seed, are able to bloom the first Summer. Check the catalogs. I only had success when I started the seed in a greenhouse in late January. I have, temporarily, stopped trying to grow any, as the common rust disease overwhelmed both them and my Malva plants. That disease usually prevents many from continuing as perennials, but I agree that they are very easy to start from seed. Some older varieties would continue for several years, if not attacked by rust.

Hollyhocks are one of my fav plants and also my nemesis! When I lived in zone 4b I had a beautiful border full of them, did nothing but weed it, and they came back every year in profusion. Here in zone 3b I have purchased plants, seeded, and have *almost* given up on them. Not completely, I will try seeds again. ;)

Thanks for posting this - I thought I was the only one having this problem. At my house in zone 4b the hollyhocks were started by my husbands grandmother, they still bloom every year and we have been there more than 20 years. But I can't even get them to come up the second year in zone 2b.
Guess I'll keep planting those seeds.

I have had Alcea 'Indian Springs' bloom the first year for me from wintersowing. I was very surprised. It did not bloom until August, though. My other hollyhocks started blooming in June.