When to Plant Hibiscus in San Diego, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first chance to plant hibiscus in San Diego can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Hibiscus

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

Hibiscus do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant hibiscus in San Diego 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. Any later than that and your hibiscus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hibiscus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in San Diego. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for San Diego is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in San Diego last frost occurs after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your hibiscus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Diego

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 Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°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 San Diego

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Diego.