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

You should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant tropical hibiscus by reviewing the USDA zone info for Mentor.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Hibiscus

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant tropical hibiscus until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant tropical hibiscus in Mentor is April. However, you really should wait until May 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 August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tropical hibiscus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Mentor. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mentor is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mentor you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your tropical hibiscus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mentor

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Mentor

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