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.

The USDA zone info for Charlotte can be read to figure out when it's a good idea 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.

Since hardy hibiscus are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant hardy hibiscus in Charlotte 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hardy hibiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your hardy hibiscus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Charlotte the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Charlotte is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Charlotte last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your hardy hibiscus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charlotte

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 Charlotte

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