Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Rensselaer you can determine when it's the best time to plant hollyhocks by reviewing 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.

Hollyhocks do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Rensselaer 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hollyhocks indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Rensselaer. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Rensselaer is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rensselaer you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hollyhocks in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rensselaer

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 Rensselaer

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