In message .com, La
Puce writes

Rupert wrote:

Gardenbanter said that the 'minority says they should be treated ....'.

Yes and I guess you now know they are wrong.
No. You wrote the 'majority' when in fact gardenbanter wrote 'the
minority'.

Googling, the only hit on Alcea ficifolia on the gardenbanter.co.uk site
is a copy of a post by me to u.r.g. In which I say that the two species
model is a minority opinion; that is equivalent to Rupert's original
statement that majority opinion is that the Ficifolia Group belongs to
Alcea rosea.

It would appear that Rupert is wrong in saying GardenBanter is wrong,
and you are wrong in claiming that it disagrees with him.

Have you grown Hollyhocks before Rupert?

Yes many years ago.

I don't want an argument ) But every single time you write, you say
'years ago I planted this' or 'never planted it' or 'I move things in
full bloom knowing it's wrong' or 'link to google'.

My question is simple, what do you grow NOW and how long have you been
a gardener?

Gave up because they really were biennials

Hollyhocks are annuals, biennials or short-lived perennials. Alcea rosea
is mostly a short-lived perennial, often treated as a biennial. (Alcea
'Majorette' is supposed to be an annual - it didn't work for me last
year.) It is said that hollyhock rust commonly makes them not worth
growing for a 3rd season. (I find that rust attacks Malva sylvestris
more than Alcea rosea, but I presume there's different strains which
grow better on different host plants - a neighbour had his musk-mallows
wiped out in 2004, and I had thought that musk-mallows were pretty
immune.) I'm quite willing to believe that Alcea rosea is monocarpic
(biennial) under some conditions.

According to this thread we've found out they're not.

and I never
got another year out of them. Much nicer effect with Abutilon which is non
deciduous and can be grown to several metres high.

Have you tried this or have you read it somewhere?

The Corynabutilon that he refers to is evergreen (I've got some
seedlings with their leaves still on, and I saw some in leaf at Ness
Botanic Gardens a few or so days back). Abutilon megapotamicum and A. x
hybridum and its parents are, I believe, evergreen in their natural
environment - in the UK they're evergreen as an indoor plant, but not
reliably evergreen (or hardy) out of doors.

Supposedly not frost
hardy but it grows well here in my part of West Yorkshire. I think it's
Tennants (sp) white. Fabulous plant flowers early so in that sense it's not
the best substitute for Hollyhocks.

Have you tried it or have you just seen it growing. I'm asking because
you see I know that some hollyhocks simply won't grow in clay soil,
hence me saying to Ollie's mum they will not because I have tried them.
Now have you of have you just read it somewhere.

I haven't succeeded in growing *any* hollyhocks in heavy, wet, clay,
including non-Ficifolia types.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley
http://www.malvaceae.info/