One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

One way of figuring out when to plant hollyhocks is to examine the USDA zone info for Itasca.

Planting Calendar for Hollyhocks

Frost tolerance for hollyhocks:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Hollyhocks do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Itasca 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. Any later than that and 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Itasca. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Itasca may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Itasca there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hollyhocks in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Itasca

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 Itasca

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