I sprayed fungicide early and thought I beat the rust this year, but then I saw that it was doing no good and gave up. I probably should have continued. Right now my hollyhocks look terrible. One plant down by the barn I swear has an alien life form growing on the underside of it's leaves. I may have to give up and not let them grow next year. I've read the spores get into the soil and to help curb the disease you need to dig the infected soil out and replace it. Well, that would be a job when the hollyhocks grow in many places not just in a flower bed or border.

A severe infestation of rust can certainly weaken a plant, but it is unlikely it will kill it. Any kind of fungicidal treatment, either chemical or organic, must be effected before you see any symptoms - you cannot "cure" a fungal issue, only prevent its spread to unaffected tissue. Cultural conditions can help - adequate air circulation, avoiding overhead watering, mulching to retard spores and removing diseased foliage - but it may be best to avoid susceptible plants or opt for those varieties that are touted as being disease resistant. Generally, fungal problems are specific to certain types of plants, so the likelihood of the rust spreading throughout your garden is slim. But plants like roses, heucheras, snapdragons and various trees and shrubs are more prone to this problem than others, so it could spread to these types of plants.

Yes, the number of prolegs are an identifying feature, taz, but most folks don't know that term. You might want to explain it to someone needing an ID. Proper ID is so important. I jumped to the conclusion that her critters are sawfly larvae because of the description of the damage ( typical for this sawfly), because of the species of plant (if you have hollyhock or other members of the mallow family, you'll often be plagued by this insect, and by nancy's use of plural when mentioning the 'worms'. Sawfly larvae are never lonely for each others' company. Add to that your explanation of the proleg feature, and there's not much chance of a missed ID! Here is a link that might be useful: Hibiscus (hollyhock) sawfly larvae on Google

Once this rust disease has shown up on your plants, you'll have to be vigilant in preventing a bad infection in the future. Most of the work involved basic housekeeping tasks, which should be done now and into the late fall when you put your perennial plants 'to bed' for the winter. Remove infected leaves when you see them and any fallen debris from the plant. It's critical that you do an immaculate housekeeping job in the garden this fall, because the inoculum overwinters in infected plant debris. Make sure that your plants have plenty of elbow room between them and try to avoid overhead watering. Inoculum is spread by splashing water (among other things). Neem oil is one of the organic products suggested for the prevention and cure of rust diseases and would be worth a try next season. There are also many chemical fungicides that are labeled for the control of this disease. Here is a link that might be useful: Just one of mucho Fact Sheets about rust