One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Lathrop can be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant hollyhocks.

Planting Calendar for Hollyhocks

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

Hollyhocks do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Lathrop is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant hollyhocks and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hollyhocks may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your hollyhocks indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Lathrop. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Lathrop may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lathrop it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to cover your hollyhocks if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lathrop

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Lathrop

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