One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 Sussex can be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant hardy hibiscus.

Planting Calendar for Hardy Hibiscus

Frost tolerance for hardy hibiscus:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Hardy Hibiscus do well in cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Sussex. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sussex is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Sussex last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your hardy hibiscus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sussex

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Sussex

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