One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 estimating when it's the best time to plant hollyhocks is to refer to the USDA zone info for Orange.

Planting Calendar for Hollyhocks

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

Since hollyhocks are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Orange is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant hollyhocks and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your hollyhocks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your hollyhocks indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Orange the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Orange and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Orange last frost occurs after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your hollyhocks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Orange

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Orange

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