One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Granite City 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.

Since hollyhocks do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Granite City 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. If you wait any later than that and your hollyhocks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your hollyhocks indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Granite City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Granite City is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Granite City it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your hollyhocks if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Granite City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Granite City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Granite City.