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.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant common hollyhock is to consult the USDA zone info for Athens.

Planting Calendar for Common hollyhock

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

You can plant common hollyhock a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Athens 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Athens. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Athens is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Athens you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your common hollyhock in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Athens

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