One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of figuring out when to plant hollyhocks is to look at the USDA zone info for Martins Ferry.

Planting Calendar for Hollyhocks

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

Hollyhocks are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Martins Ferry 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 Martins Ferry. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Martins Ferry is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Martins Ferry you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your hollyhocks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Martins Ferry

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

Plants to Grow in Martins Ferry

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Martins Ferry.