One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

In Carmel you can estimate when it's possible to plant hollyhocks by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Hollyhocks

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

You can plant hollyhocks a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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

Last Frost Date

In Carmel the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Carmel is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Carmel you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hollyhocks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carmel

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 Carmel

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Carmel.