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.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant hibiscus is to look at the USDA zone info for Benson.

Planting Calendar for Hibiscus

Frost tolerance for hibiscus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Hibiscus do not do well in cold weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant hibiscus in Benson 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 hibiscus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hibiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your hibiscus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Benson is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Benson last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your hibiscus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Benson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Benson

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