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.

A common way of determining when you can plant common hollyhock is to consult the USDA zone info for Bedford.

Planting Calendar for Common hollyhock

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

Since common hollyhock do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Bedford 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 grow to maturity. 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 all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Bedford. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bedford is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Bedford there is a last frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your common hollyhock in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bedford

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 Bedford

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