One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant hollyhocks is to consult the USDA zone info for Middleton.

Planting Calendar for Hollyhocks

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

Since hollyhocks do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant hollyhocks in Middleton 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 fully mature. 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

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Middleton. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Middleton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Middleton you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hollyhocks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Middleton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Middleton

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