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

A common way of estimating when you can plant hibiscus is to use the USDA zone info for Palm Desert.

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 not a good idea to plant hibiscus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant hibiscus in Palm Desert is March. However, you really should wait until April 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. If you wait any later than that and your hibiscus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your hibiscus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Palm Desert the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Palm Desert is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Palm Desert it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your hibiscus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palm Desert

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 Palm Desert

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palm Desert.