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 Austin can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant hibiscus.

Planting Calendar for Hibiscus

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

Hibiscus are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant hibiscus in Austin is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant hibiscus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your hibiscus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your hibiscus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Austin the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Austin is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Austin it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your hibiscus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Austin

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