One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant common hollyhock is to look at the USDA zone info for Hoffman Estates.

Planting Calendar for Common hollyhock

Frost tolerance for common hollyhock:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Common hollyhock do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Hoffman Estates is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant common hollyhock and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your common hollyhock may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your common hollyhock indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Hoffman Estates. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hoffman Estates and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Hoffman Estates you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your common hollyhock in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hoffman Estates

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hoffman Estates

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hoffman Estates.