I love hollyhocks too and always have them growing in my gardens here (Scottsdale). Sometimes they take a couple of years to bloom, but there's nothing you can do to encourage blooms earlier other than just keeping the plants happy and growing. I bet you'll get blooms this spring. Mine usually start flowering in early March and I bet yours will too. If they don't, then absolutely the following spring. They do great here so you shouldn't have any problems as long as you've got happy, growing plants.

Keep us posted and good luck. I do love hollyhocks too!
Happy gardening,
Grant

Hi leisabailey, welcome to the desert! I loved seeing the hollyhocks growing at a house I used to walk by after school, and went through the same struggles you are in trying to get them established. It takes forever... I bought a single plant at lowes (they are hard to find...!) and had to wait, and wait, and wait... Two years passed, and I finally got blooms!!! But, only enough to count on one hand... Which was upsetting!!! I'm very impatient, especially after 2 years.
However, the blooms seeded, and those babies are growing now. This year (the third), the mother plant was actually looking like a hollyhock - 6' tall and a beautiful full flower stalk. Now that I understand what to expect, I'm thinking the babies will have small stalks this year, and NEXT year, I'll have a real full hollyhock patch, with everyone at full bloom.
At least you're not starting with a single plant, so yours will be set earlier. :) oh, and don't worry about cutting them back. They'll take care of themselves. I don't cut back anything unless it's dead. In fact, it's possible here that you'll have green survive from year to year. I don't know if that was your experience in S. D. but here, I still have tomatoes growing and fruiting, and I plan on keeping them through next year too.
Hope something in here helps!

Yup, I think just a bit more time is all you need. My hollyhocks self-sow quite a bit too, and seedlings are easy to transplant, although I usually just leave them where they pop up. Here are two pics of mine from last May and last June (you need to view this post via the website to see them). Great, fun plants! Keep us posted. Happy gardening!

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I thought hollyhocks are biennial: blooming the 2nd year after planting, often coming back for a few years.

Our desert tortoise ate them all.

Bummer about your hollyhocks all getting eaten, lazy (well, bummer for your hollyhocks, maybe not for your tortoise). I think some types are true biennials, and some are true annuals, and others are short term perennials, and then if you grow the various types (like I do), then you get all sorts of in-between. I basically consider most hollyhocks short term perennials: generally blooming after their first winter and living for a couple more, but not always.

I think the best way to have success is to have them at various ages too; large plants that will bloom, medium sized plants that might not and seedlings. That way each spring/early summer you'll get some blooms. Every now and then one big plant just croaks, but usually there are plenty of seedlings to take over.

By the way, I've seen lots of hollyhocks plants and seedlings for sale at Baker and Berridge nurseries over the last month or two. I'd call first of course, but two weekends ago I visited them both and they had some.

Happy gardening everyone!
Take care,
Grant