One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 you can plant common hollyhock is to refer to the USDA zone info for Brainerd.

Planting Calendar for Common hollyhock

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

Since common hollyhock are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Brainerd 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 really do well. If you are starting your common hollyhock indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Brainerd. You can expect an average low temperature of -35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Brainerd may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Brainerd last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your common hollyhock in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Brainerd

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Brainerd

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