My most longed plants for this season were Coneflower, Rudbeckias, Mexican Hat, Malva and Yarrow and all have lived upto expectations. (Except lupins/columbine)
Malva is a highly recommended plant.
Easy to germinate and grow(claimed to be perennial/and self sowing).
This plant has dark greenish lustery foliage which is in itself beautiful.
It has a strong 3 inch wide stem, and with me it has faced winds as high as 50 kts, and not even shriveled.
Unlike hollyhock, this plant is not bothered by heat/Sun. I can easily claim there are only few plants with such large leaves, which keep there composure on a hot sunny day. Malva leaves does not droop with sun, this is good enough sign that this plant can survive our hot weathers.
They flower in spring as well as fall as observed by me in a nearby vicinity. Following pictures might not do justice but it has uncountable buds ready to burst open...
Only threat to Malva as i have observed is caterpillars and nothing else seems to bother s itleathery leaves.
For Hollyhocks, my experience has been that they should be back or border with positive support at the back(Sheltered)...more better if not only stacked but tied with rope in a sort of perimeter. Hollyhock do better in partial Sun. They do suffer from Sun. They should be planted tightly close together(1-1 1/2 ft away) so that not only they support each other but also for the reason that sunlight should not fall on their base. This will ensure moisture retention in ground. Hollyhocks suffer from mites/caterpillars.
Nigella hates wet feet. It prefers dry conditions. Rule is simple if the plant has feathery, lance shaped grassy foliage(Cosmos/Coreposis/Nigella) it is drought tolerant, because its leaf surface area is small enough to cause any considerable moisture loss.
Wish list Plant 2. Achillea Millefolium, again drought tolerant perennial, i expect few more colors. I think what we need to look for in a plant for our environment is drought tolerance because of high heat index. Flower size is very small but as they are in clusters. It makes up for the flower size.
.... Hope you make them bloom 
