One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant common hollyhock in Ankeny by checking out the USDA zone info.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Ankeny 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your common hollyhock may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your common hollyhock indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ankeny. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ankeny is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ankeny you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your common hollyhock in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ankeny

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ankeny

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