One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The first opportunity to plant common hollyhock in Evanston should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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 are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Evanston 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your common hollyhock indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Evanston. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Evanston may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Evanston there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your common hollyhock if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Evanston

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 Evanston

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