When to Plant Hibiscus in Elkhorn, WI

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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant hibiscus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Elkhorn.


Planting Calendar for Hibiscus

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

You really shouldn't plant hibiscus until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant hibiscus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant hibiscus
Probably not a good time to plant hibiscus

The earliest that you can plant hibiscus in Elkhorn 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. If you wait 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Elkhorn. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Elkhorn is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elkhorn you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your hibiscus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elkhorn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Elkhorn

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