One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 estimating when to plant tropical hibiscus is to refer to the USDA zone info for San Jose.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Hibiscus

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

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

The earliest that you can plant tropical hibiscus in San Jose 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 tropical hibiscus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your tropical hibiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your tropical 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 February 15 in San Jose. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for San Jose is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in San Jose there is a last frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your tropical hibiscus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Jose

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 San Jose

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