I always think of hollyhocks as coming from the mid-west. I visited my grandparents in Indiana for years - and remember them growing along fences. They grow beautifully in California but I so rarely see them grown here. One of my neighbors didn’t even know what they were called - and they were growing in her front yard.
Hollyhocks are another of my favorites, but where I planted one, they never came up again. Of course, very few things in that area of my garden survive. There’s a hickory tree right over the area, and the nuts must be like poison to the soil. I’ll have to find another spot, because I do love them.