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.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant hollyhocks is to look at the USDA zone info for Joliet.

Planting Calendar for Hollyhocks

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

Hollyhocks are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Joliet 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Joliet the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Joliet is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Joliet you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your hollyhocks in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Joliet

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 Joliet

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