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.

You should be able to determine when to plant hollyhocks by checking out the USDA zone info for Chester.

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 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 Chester 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. Any later than that and your hollyhocks may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hollyhocks indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chester. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Chester and it is different every year. Half of the time in Chester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your hollyhocks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chester

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 Chester

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