One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant hardy hibiscus is to check out the USDA zone info for Charlotte.

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 a lot 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 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. If you wait 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Charlotte the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charlotte is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Charlotte you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your hardy hibiscus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charlotte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Charlotte

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