Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for New Orleans can be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant tropical hibiscus.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Hibiscus

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

Tropical Hibiscus require warm weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tropical hibiscus in New Orleans is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. If you wait any later than that and your tropical hibiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your tropical hibiscus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in New Orleans. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for New Orleans is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in New Orleans you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your tropical hibiscus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Orleans

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in New Orleans

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Orleans.