When to Plant Tropical Hibiscus in Mendota, IL

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.

In Mendota you can determine when it's a good idea to plant tropical hibiscus by checking out 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.

Since tropical hibiscus do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer 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 Mendota 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tropical hibiscus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Mendota. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mendota is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mendota there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your tropical hibiscus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mendota

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 Mendota

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