When to Plant Tropical Hibiscus in Opelika, AL

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.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant tropical hibiscus in Opelika by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Tropical Hibiscus

Frost tolerance for tropical hibiscus: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Tropical Hibiscus are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant tropical hibiscus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant tropical hibiscus
Probably not a good time to plant tropical hibiscus

The earliest that you can plant tropical hibiscus in Opelika is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Opelika. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Opelika and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Opelika last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your tropical hibiscus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Opelika

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 Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°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 Opelika

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