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.

It's possible to figure out when to plant common hollyhock by looking at the USDA zone info for Shelby.

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 start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Shelby 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. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Shelby. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Shelby is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Shelby you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your common hollyhock if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shelby

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Shelby

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