One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant hardy hibiscus is to consult the USDA zone info for Lancaster.

Planting Calendar for Hardy Hibiscus

Frost tolerance for hardy hibiscus:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Hardy Hibiscus do well in cold which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant hardy hibiscus in Lancaster 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 hardy hibiscus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your hardy hibiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your hardy hibiscus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Lancaster. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Lancaster is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lancaster there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your hardy hibiscus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

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 Lancaster

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