When to Plant Hardy Hibiscus in Santa Cruz, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when it's possible to plant hardy hibiscus by using the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz.


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 tend to make it in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant hardy hibiscus in Santa Cruz is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 October. If you wait any later than that and your hardy hibiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your hardy hibiscus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Cruz the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your hardy hibiscus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Cruz

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Santa Cruz

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Cruz.