When to Plant Tropical Hibiscus in Gurnee, IL

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

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant tropical hibiscus is to consult the USDA zone info for Gurnee.


Planting Calendar for Tropical Hibiscus

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

Since tropical hibiscus are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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 Gurnee 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. If you wait any later than that and your tropical hibiscus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your tropical hibiscus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Gurnee. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Gurnee is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Gurnee it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your tropical hibiscus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gurnee

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Gurnee

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Gurnee.