Can I plant a Hibiscus in zone 7b? If so, will it survive the winter? And if yes for those other questions, what type of soil should I use?
Is it a Hardy or Tropical? Tropical has shiny leaves, hardy doesn't. What's your usual coldest temperature in the winter, the hardy type will survive down to about 5 degrees with a good covering of mulch. Mine have gone through short periods (a day or two) of ice and snow with no problem. I have heavy black clay soil and they thrive, but it wouldn't hurt to make the hole larger than needed and back fill with a good compost/soil mixture.
Ok, thanks Toni. My lowest temp is usually 10F, but unfortunately it appears that all three of my hibiscus are tropical. I bought two red ones yesterday for $4 each off the sale rack.
Then... keep those in pots and get fresh seeds from traders from hardy types. You won't regret it. From seeds you'd see blooms in 2 years. If you can't wait, you can buy some plants. Hibiscus moscheutos would be the botanical name.
I seen some on sale rack but we got as cold as -40 last winter.makes me shiver even typing that. In my area even if i planted hardy ones now and mulched well would be risky .
Thanks Calin, I'm going to have to look for either the seeds or plants because I really want some in my yard.
Flowerfreak--I bought a tropical hibiscus this spring and put it in a big pot. It has grown incredibly this summer. I hope to over-winter it this year in our sunroom (we are zone 5 -10 F). We shall see how that will go. The flowers are gorgeous though: pale orange and so tropical looking.
I thought I would go ahead post pictures of the two plants in question. The first one is my yellow hibiscus and I'm pretty sure its the tropical one. The second one is one of the red ones that I bought the other day. Tropical? ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden ) Hardy? ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden )
I planted a hardy hibiscus last year, and it survived an Indiana winter (some days got to well below 0º), however it did NOT survive the drought this summer! I wasnt able to get to moms house to water most days because of my work hours (and she wont water...), so it bit the dust...
Hi everybody. I have a tropical hibiscus in a pot that I plan to overwinter indoors this year. Any suggestions about how far and when to cut it back? It has gotten bigger since the photo was taken, with pot, it is 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide. Hibiscus is 2nd pot on right ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden )
