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.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant hollyhocks is to examine the USDA zone info for Lake in the Hills.

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 get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Lake in the Hills 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 fully mature. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lake in the Hills. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lake in the Hills may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake in the Hills it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your hollyhocks in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake in the Hills

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 Lake in the Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake in the Hills.