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.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant tropical hibiscus by looking at the USDA zone info for Elgin.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Hibiscus

Frost tolerance for tropical hibiscus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably a bad idea to plant tropical hibiscus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant tropical hibiscus in Elgin 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. Any later than that and your tropical hibiscus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tropical hibiscus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Elgin. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Elgin there is a last frost after March 15 so always be ready to protect your tropical hibiscus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elgin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Elgin

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