When to Plant Common hollyhock in Western Springs, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 estimating when it's the best time to plant common hollyhock is to refer to the USDA zone info for Western Springs.


Planting Calendar for Common hollyhock

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

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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant common hollyhock
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant common hollyhock
Probably not a good time to plant common hollyhock

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Western Springs 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 common hollyhock and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your common hollyhock may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your common hollyhock indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Western Springs 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 Western Springs is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Western Springs you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your common hollyhock if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Western Springs

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 Western Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Western Springs.