When to Plant Tropical Hibiscus in Hinsdale, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant tropical hibiscus is to consult the USDA zone info for Hinsdale.


Planting Calendar for Tropical Hibiscus

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

Tropical Hibiscus are not cold tolerant which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up 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 Hinsdale 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. Starting your tropical hibiscus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Hinsdale. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Hinsdale is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Hinsdale you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your tropical hibiscus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hinsdale

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 Hinsdale

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