I've had Painted Ladies oviposit on Hollyhocks before. I live in Southern California. My plants were in small pots.

Yup, I watched a painted lady (V. cardui) lay last week on hollyhock. The prettiest little sky blue eggs.

It looks like you have Malva sylvestris or tall mallow "Zebrina". It is a relative of the hollyhock. The painted ladies will use it too.

Good luck,
Elisabeth

The painted ladies that I raised this summer all preferred the malva over the hollyhock.
-B

I'm glad someone else thought it was the Zebrina Malva. Just grew it this year. Pretty plant.

Yup, just checked our malva and there are painted lady cats and eggs on it.

If you plant it, they will come. - Elisabeth

I live in San Francisco. I see painted lady caterpillars on young hollyhocks but not on the more mature plants that are getting ready to flower. Maybe the mature plants are too tough? Anyway, the birds seem to notice the caterpillars pretty quickly as well. They never seem to last to maturity!