One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Ishpeming you can figure out when it's the best time to plant common hollyhock by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Ishpeming is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 August. Any later than that and your common hollyhock may not have a chance to fully mature. 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

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Ishpeming. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ishpeming is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ishpeming last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your common hollyhock if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ishpeming

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ishpeming

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