One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant common hollyhock is to check out the USDA zone info for Zone 9b.

Planting Calendar for Common hollyhock

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

Common hollyhock do ok in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant common hollyhock in Zone 9b 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 common hollyhock and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your common hollyhock may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your common hollyhock indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Zone 9b. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Zone 9b is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Zone 9b it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your common hollyhock if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 9b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9b.