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When to Plant Hardy Hibiscus in Hillsboro, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Hillsboro you can figure out when it's the best time to plant hardy hibiscus by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Hardy Hibiscus

Frost tolerance for hardy hibiscus: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since hardy hibiscus are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit 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 Hillsboro is February. However, you really should wait until March 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 September. If you wait any later than that and your hardy hibiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your hardy hibiscus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Hillsboro. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hillsboro is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Hillsboro it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your hardy hibiscus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hillsboro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Hillsboro

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