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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Waukegan it's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant hardy hibiscus.

Planting Calendar for Hardy Hibiscus

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

You can plant hardy hibiscus much earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant hardy hibiscus in Waukegan 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. Any later than that and your hardy hibiscus may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your hardy hibiscus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Waukegan. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Waukegan is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Waukegan it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your hardy hibiscus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waukegan

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 Waukegan

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