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

By looking at the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz it's possible to figure out when to plant hibiscus.

Planting Calendar for Hibiscus

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

It's a bad idea to plant hibiscus until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant hibiscus in Santa Cruz 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hibiscus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your hibiscus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Santa Cruz. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Cruz last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your 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 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 Santa Cruz

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