When to Plant Tropical Hibiscus in Storm Lake, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant tropical hibiscus in Storm Lake by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Tropical Hibiscus

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant tropical hibiscus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant tropical hibiscus in Storm Lake is April. However, you really should wait until May 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 August. Any later than that and your tropical hibiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tropical hibiscus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Storm Lake. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Storm Lake is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Storm Lake it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your tropical hibiscus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Storm Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Storm Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Storm Lake.