One of ours never returned, but the old one is up like crazy!

same zone as you, 5, and my kopper king, which I've had for at least 4 years, does not have a single little bud near the base. It has been a cool spring, and maybe it is heat sensitive. Also, last few days have been rainy and very cool; a number of plants stopped at half bud. Usually kk is at least sending up shoots by June 1.

I'm wondering about my two Rose of Sharons too. I moved them in early spring, which could have set them back, or it could have killed them. I've been trying to decide how much longer to wait before yanking them out, and putting something else in their place.

Bonnie

My Kopper King, planted in '04, is not showing either, as of yesterday. It's usually showing something at the base by the end of May. Glad to hear others in my zone are slow to show, too.

hialt... don't dig up anything for a couple of weeks. A lot of hibiscus are tropical, so I bet even our hardy ones are spurred by number of consecutive heat days...or/and soil temperature. I could be making this up however.....

Marie, no, you are not making this up.
Hibiscus need certain soil temperature for certain number of days in order to wake up.
Neither my KK nor Lord Baltimor show sign of life even here in 6b.
Yet, I hope.

I was worried about mine this spring too. This is my second year for a Hardy Pink that I started from seed. It bloomed for the first time last year. It is up about 3-4 inches now and is actually shaded behind a large clump of iris. It is in a raised bed, so I imagine the soil may warm sooner there.

I bought a Plum Crazy 50% off last fall and it was dormant at that point and no more than a stem coming out of the pot and that one finally is showing one little bud at the base. 'After' I bought it, I read that they don't like transplanting in the fall, so I was thinking it was money out the window. I got lucky, but I won't buy them in the fall again.

While we are on a hybiscus topic, does anyone know if deers attracted to them?

Do deer eat hibiscus plants?
In: Flower Gardening
Answer

Yes deer eat everything. You might try rosemary, lantanna some sages. Deer typically do not like some of the stronger smelling plants. Herbs and traditional natural plants tend to make them move on to other people's tender plants. I hope this helps.

Here's another reference on what deer like and don't like...

http://boards.thenest.com/boards/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=31393957

Here is one more...a review of a book advising what to avoid for deer...

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1EE7DLROK7959

The only thing I have heard that works from people who have deer problems, is Liquid Fence. Here is a Dave's Garden review of the product with pros and cons.

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/3049/

Hope that helps...Ego :-)

pm2

Here is a link that might be useful: Hort Society of NY Deer resistant shrubs for zone 5

LOL; I had purchased a perennial one last year, Kopper King maybe, and I was sooooooooo angry when it had no sign of life. Low & behold, I saw a tiny shoot 3 days ago.
Even an established Rose of Sharon had no sign of life, while my neighbors was already fully green. Again, 3 days ago, first sign of life. Two more new ROS's, purchased online and planted last fall, still have no sign of life :(

I have 8 Rose of Sharon (at least that's what I think they are). They are all chock full of foliage now. It has been well over a month since they started showing life.

I have a rose of sharon 'Diana', which is always slow to get going. It usually doesn't bud up until July. But then it takes off and blooms its head off.

Diana

My Kopper King has been really late this year. It just started this week and is only a few inches tall so far. Don't give up hope, I bet yours is close behind!

Here are my Rose of Sharon as of today... If I'm correct in saying that's what they are.

{{gwi:239399}}

The orange arrow points to the end of last years growth/the beginning of this years growth.

{{gwi:239401}}

So I'd say they are taking off pretty well so far. Although one of mine is about half the size as the rest.. which is odd, since I planted them all at the same time and they were about the same size. Who knows. They are in sun/part shade.

In my original post, I was referring to Hibiscus moschetos, not Rose of Sharon....

Anyway, I'm finally seeing very tiny shoots of a couple of the ones whose existence was questionable, but not all of them.

I'm mostly irritated because like I said I've got some pretty big bare spots. Hurry up already!!!

My Lord Baltimore has been up for awhile. It was a little over a foot high and this year I finally remembered that pinching it at that stage will make more branches and more flowers. LB is in a sunny 9-3 dry bed.

In another sunny wet bed (11-6), I have Lady Baltimore and a new Kopper King planted last fall. They are each just showing a tiny piece of green.

We are in the beginning of a 4-day heat wave here so I expect big changes!

My Kopper King, Plum Crazy and Lord Baltimore are up and going but only for about the last ten days. My seven year old Lady Baltimore bit the dust last season (which I believe was due to a thaw in January, five inches of rain and the next day return to instant freeze, the ice build up in the drainage system caused a waterfall over her during the downpour)

I do not cut my hibiscus shorter than two foot after fall freeze. Then in the spring the ugly remaining stalks are mostly hidden by spring bulbs ect. I was told by the nursery not to cut down more than that until the early spring rains ceased as the water would run down into the stalk and rot.