One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Hampshire you can determine when it's possible to plant hollyhocks 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Hampshire 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 fully mature. Starting your hollyhocks 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 Hampshire. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Hampshire is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Hampshire you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your hollyhocks if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hampshire

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hampshire

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