One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Norfolk can be reffered to in order to estimate when you can plant hibiscus.

Planting Calendar for Hibiscus

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

Hibiscus do not do well in cold weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant hibiscus in Norfolk 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 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hibiscus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Norfolk. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Norfolk and it is different every year. Half of the time in Norfolk last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your hibiscus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Norfolk

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 Norfolk

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