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

One way of making a decision about when you can plant hibiscus is to use the USDA zone info for Costa Mesa.

Planting Calendar for Hibiscus

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant hibiscus until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant hibiscus in Costa Mesa 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 hibiscus and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hibiscus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your hibiscus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Costa Mesa. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Costa Mesa is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Costa Mesa last frost occurs after January 31 so always be ready to protect your hibiscus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Costa Mesa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Costa Mesa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Costa Mesa.