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.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant hollyhocks is to refer to the USDA zone info for Trenton.

Planting Calendar for Hollyhocks

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

You can plant hollyhocks just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Trenton 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. If you wait any later than that and your hollyhocks may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your hollyhocks indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Trenton. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Trenton may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Trenton you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your hollyhocks in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Trenton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Trenton

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