is this hollyhock?

I've grown this plant from seed two years in a row from the pollinator mix from 'Going to Seed'.

I have it several places and most are small but the one in my hoop house (no plastic cover, just shade cloth) has larger leaves...6" or so.
The one in a pot is smaller and not as deep green as the one in the bed and the ones in the garden soil are smaller yet.
We've already had a couple frosts and freezes so I doubt there's time for it to bloom.

If it's a hollyhock should I protect a little for the winter?

I think they are biannuals and bloom the second year?

I haven't found any the second year but lots  of things get lost in our gardens....

any ideas?

Looks like hollyhock to me Judith - one of my favourite flowers! They used to seed themselves in the gap between our drive and next door's when I was little, and we used to play dollies with the flowers.
I think they can be short lived perennials depending on your climate. I gather they are hardy to zone 3, but may die back to the roots and will benefit from a mulch to protect the roots overwinter.

IYes, they are. I have hollyhock volunteers too and they are not harmed by the 20F hard freeze last week. If the winter is mild, they will probably stay green throughout with some leave mulch. Last plant I had bloomed for the next 2-3 years.

Have you been to Santa Fe? Hollyhocks are very popular in landscaping there. The view of tall flower stalks standing against the colorful adobe walls are so stunning. Somehow my plants never grow that big, could be a variety or soil issue.

thanks Nancy and May both for confirmation!

I love hollyhocks and always forget to get seed for them  so this is a nice surprise..

I'll stake these to remind myself to look for them in the spring.

Hollyhock will grow back year after year even in cold climates. And seeds are very easy to collect and grow.
From 2 in pots a few years ago we now have them growing everywhere.
This is from seeds just scattered:

Thom Bri wrote:Hollyhock will grow back year after year even in cold climates. And seeds are very easy to collect and grow.
From 2 in pots a few years ago we now have them growing everywhere.
This is from seeds just scattered:

Thom,

That looks a lot like Malva sylvestris, which bloomed for me for the first time this year—High Mallow.

Hollyhock tends to have more raceme-like inflorescences and woolier leaves, and the flowers are bigger and fuller-looking.

Fortunately Mallow appears to be the better for eating… I had a stint of eating hollyhock leaves and don’t think I’m going back. On the other hand I could eat mallows every day happily.

M Ljin wrote:

Thom Bri wrote:Hollyhock will grow back year after year even in cold climates. And seeds are very easy to collect and grow.
From 2 in pots a few years ago we now have them growing everywhere.
This is from seeds just scattered:

Thom,

That looks a lot like Malva sylvestris, which bloomed for me for the first time this year—High Mallow.

Hollyhock tends to have more raceme-like inflorescences and woolier leaves, and the flowers are bigger and fuller-looking.

Fortunately Mallow appears to be the better for eating… I had a stint of eating hollyhock leaves and don’t think I’m going back. On the other hand I could eat mallows every day happily.

You are right. The label on the pot said 'French Hollyhock' which is a kind of mallow. Regular hollyhock is a different kind of mallow, closely related. We have had both and both are easy to grow and cold-tolerant.

Mallows are wonderful eating, and one of the few edible weeds that kept growing and spreading in my Bulgarian garden this summer despite the severe drought. The Bulgarian plants had far smaller and less fleshy leaves than the huge ones in my UK garden, but were still very much appreciated. I've been scattering the seeds all over!

Jane Mulberry wrote:Mallows are wonderful eating, and one of the few edible weeds that kept growing and spreading in my Bulgarian garden this summer despite the severe drought. The Bulgarian plants had far smaller and less fleshy leaves than the huge ones in my UK garden, but were still very much appreciated. I've been scattering the seeds all over!

I pick the occasional leaf and eat it right there, but have not tried anything more. The whole plant is supposed to be edible and nutritious. There are quite a few edible 'weeds' that I'll eat a leaf of as I walk around the gardens. Mallow is one of the better ones. Wild mallow is one of the toughest weeds in my garden. I like seeing it, tiny pretty flowers and I imagine it's good for the soil.

I find they get tough quite early in my dry hot Bulgarian garden, and so like many wild greens I prefer the texture cooked to raw. But unlike so many other wild greens they never get bitter.

I planted a flower seed mix several years ago in a bed just outside of my veggie garden. Hollyhocks grew and bloomed the first year (I think some varieties bloom in the first year, and some bloom in year two) I have had hollyhocks ever since. I love them, but they have become a kind of weed. I let them grow where I can, and pull the rest.

Jen, that's a different one yet...pretty color!
Can't wait to see what I have if they survive the winter and bloom next year.

.....they have become a kind of weed.  

my kinda flower🙃

We have hollyhocks here on our farm, have been in the same spot for years. Ours seem to be a 2 year plant, smaller plants show up in mid to late summer and that I believe are next year's flowering hollyhocks. They are tough as I have burned the bed in spring the last couple of years to slow down grasses and clean up leaves. Hollyhocks come on strong even if they got singed a bit. The site where they grow is about the hardest, dryest soil on our farm. I have watered them on dry years and the water, 300 gallons at a time just vanishes. Our hollyhocks have been in the family for as long as anyone can remember.  All of my great aunts had flower gardens, some with white picket fences and of course many hollyhocks. I save the seed from ours in the fall and have been giving them to friends and family. They do like balanced fertilization I have found; some were about 7' tall this year. We have 4 or so main colors, white, a deep red, many shades of pink and one that is kind of a light lavender, this is my favorite. I cut the stalks in the fall with the seed heads and then store overwinter in a 36 gallon garbage container. I have a seed debearder for native grass seed and run the hollyhocks through to thresh out the seeds. Long live the hollyhock !!

Jen Fulkerson wrote:I planted a flower seed mix several years ago in a bed just outside of my veggie garden. Hollyhocks grew and bloomed the first year (I think some varieties bloom in the first year, and some bloom in year two) I have had hollyhocks ever since. I love them, but they have become a kind of weed. I let them grow where I can, and pull the rest.

You have a very healthy-looking eggplant there. Keep the snails and slugs away from it and you should be well rewarded.

Doug McEvers wrote:We have hollyhocks here on our farm, have been in the same spot for years. Ours seem to be a 2 year plant, smaller plants show up in mid to late summer and that I believe are next year's flowering hollyhocks. They are tough as I have burned the bed in spring the last couple of years to slow down grasses and clean up leaves. Hollyhocks come on strong even if they got singed a bit. The site where they grow is about the hardest, dryest soil on our farm. I have watered them on dry years and the water, 300 gallons at a time just vanishes. Our hollyhocks have been in the family for as long as anyone can remember.  All of my great aunts had flower gardens, some with white picket fences and of course many hollyhocks. I save the seed from ours in the fall and have been giving them to friends and family. They do like balanced fertilization I have found; some were about 7' tall this year. We have 4 or so main colors, white, a deep red, many shades of pink and one that is kind of a light lavender, this is my favorite. I cut the stalks in the fall with the seed heads and then store overwinter in a 36 gallon garbage container. I have a seed debearder for native grass seed and run the hollyhocks through to thresh out the seeds. Long live the hollyhock !!

Doug, I'm hoping these are the type you describe....the big colorful ones that reseed and come back with no particular care.
I think I may have to buy some additional seed for certain colors though.
Growing up in Illinois they were common on every farm we lived on and always a favorite!

Judith,

I have no pictures, but they are big and colorful. They require no care and self-seed each year, my recent fertilization has caused them to expand. Might be my claim to fame, world's largest hollyhock patch. I would call them old fashioned hollyhocks, dating back to the start of this farm (1880) possibly. I would imagine my great grandfather (Chris) was more interested in farming than flowers early on but after he married great grandmother (Marie) I bet the flowers came soon after. I have a gallon bag of seed from 2024 and have yet to thresh out the 2025 crop. Would be happy to send them out to anyone interested here. We can't have too many flowers !!

Thanks Phil that was a nice way to let me know I messed up. I was on my lunch break and trying to be quick and posted pictures of an eggplant.
I fixed it. I'm sure I have light pink hollyhocks, but can't find any pictures of that one. I will be sure to post a new picture this summer.
Sorry everyone, my bad.

Jen Fulkerson wrote:Thanks Phil that was a nice way to let me know I messed up. I was on my lunch break and trying to be quick and posted pictures of an eggplant.
I fixed it. I'm sure I have light pink hollyhocks, but can't find any pictures of that one. I will be sure to post a new picture this summer.
Sorry everyone, my bad.

Doug McEvers wrote:Judith,

I have no pictures, but they are big and colorful. They require no care and self-seed each year, my recent fertilization has caused them to expand. Might be my claim to fame, world's largest hollyhock patch. I would call them old fashioned hollyhocks, dating back to the start of this farm (1880) possibly. I would imagine my great grandfather (Chris) was more interested in farming than flowers early on but after he married great grandmother (Marie) I bet the flowers came soon after. I have a gallon bag of seed from 2024 and have yet to thresh out the 2025 crop. Would be happy to send them out to anyone interested here. We can't have too many flowers !!

I would love a few seeds! thank you!
especially some with a long history😊
I can send postage, other seeds in return?
will send you a PM.

It's 1/23/26 and I went into the veggie garden, and there's a lot of hollyhocks growing. One is blooming a few inches from the soil which I have never seen before.  Most will be removed I wouldn't mind giving up that part of the walkway, but I do mind giving up the light they will block on my veggie this summer.

How does hollyhock respond to topping. Say at 2 foot high, repeatedly? Would it still bloom? Would it die?

In my mind, hollyhock is a 2-year plant here, may be wrong about this. I see many smaller plants showing up amidst the blooming plants in July and August. I was assuming these small hollyhocks will become next year's blooming plants, wonder how to prove this? Also, maybe our hollyhocks here would grow from seed and bloom the same year in a warmer climate? We are in western Minnesota, so soils generally do not start warming until May. Some hollyhock science is needed. For hollyhock bed management I never harvest all of the seed and will wait until seeds start shattering before collecting the stalks and seedheads. I believe in local source seed being used for restoration projects and will not send native prairie seed more than 200 or so miles from here. I have no similar restrictions on ornamentals as long as they are not considered invasive.

I am so jealous, y’all.  Hollyhocks are an urban (beloved!) weed where I live - they sprout in the crack between buildings and sidewalks, grow 8 feet high and are carefully tied back so they don’t flop over.

Can I get them to grow in my garden? No.  I’ve spread thousands of seeds, even bought (!) grown plants, and they’ve never taken.

You all are so lucky! (And I’m lucky to have them just outside my door, too!)

I have seen a hack to get biannual to bloom the first year by planting them in the fall. Maybe this is what is happening???