When to Plant Hollyhocks in Auburn, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 Auburn can be looked at to determine when it's possible 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 well in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant hollyhocks
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant hollyhocks
Probably not a good time to plant hollyhocks

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Auburn 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your hollyhocks indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Auburn. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Auburn may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Auburn you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your hollyhocks in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Auburn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Auburn

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