Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant hollyhocks in Marion should be figured out by looking at 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.

Hollyhocks do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Marion 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hollyhocks may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hollyhocks indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Marion the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Marion is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Marion you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your hollyhocks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

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 Marion

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