Do Hollyhocks Bloom the First Year?

Growing Hollyhocks

• Hollyhocks send up flowering stalks to 6 feet or more, striking at the back of flower beds and colorful plant screens. Despite their elegance, hollyhocks are easy to grow, perfect for beginning gardeners. They thrive in full sun and many soil types, especially rich, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0 and 8.0. Hollyhocks are heavy feeders, so regularly add composted manure. Space plants at least 18 inches apart -- 24 to 30 inches if possible -- for the good air circulation and sun exposure that prevent disease. Water plants well during hot weather. Hollyhocks have deep taproots, so transplant them when they are small. In cold-winter areas, mulch plants heavily to prevent damage to dormant terminal buds.

Biennial Hollyhocks

• Start biennial plants by sowing seeds outdoors in a cold frame or nursery bed in late summer or fall, at least two months before frost. Seeds will quickly sprout and produce several large leaves. Mulch these young plants heavily for winter protection. Transplant them to permanent locations for flowering in early spring. Hollyhocks started this way will bloom from midsummer into early fall in USDA zones 3 through 8. In zones 9 and 10, set young plants out in the fall for spring bloom.

Hollyhocks as Perennials

• Grow perennial hollyhocks the same way, though at best daughter plants will keep the plant going for only three years. Cut off flower stalks at the plant's base when they finish blooming to prevent seed heads from forming and to preserve plant energy. Daughter plants won't be as vigorous as "mom," however, so keep your hollyhock bed vital by regularly raising new plants from seed. Also transplant any nearby volunteer hollyhocks -- which may not bloom "true" because of crossbreeding -- elsewhere in the garden. In USDA zones 9 and 10, grow hollyhocks as biennials.

Hollyhocks as Annuals

• Plants purchased in nurseries and garden centers in spring, ready for transplanting, are already in their second or "big bloom" year. For the gardener, these are essentially annuals. But some hollyhocks have been developed to grow as annuals, such as Summer Carnival, a double-flowered variety that starts blooming within four months of planting from seed. Others, including Happy Lights, will bloom the first year even in cold climates if seeds are planted in February. Even these cultivars will overwinter as biennials or perennials, however, in USDA zones 3 through 9.