One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Evanston you can determine when you can plant hibiscus by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Hibiscus

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

It's a bad idea to plant hibiscus until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant hibiscus in Evanston 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. Starting your hibiscus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Evanston is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Evanston last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your hibiscus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Evanston

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 Evanston

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