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naively left hibiscus outside over winter

14 years ago

I transplanted two braided hibiscus outside in the ground last summer. They did very well during the summer and early fall. Not knowing they needed to come inside for the winter, I naively left them out during a rough Ohio winter. I'm afraid they may be dead. Is there any way they could still survive or any way I could revive them? I really need some advice since they were my favorite addition to my landscape. Please help!

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Comments (3)

jroot
14 years ago
In your area, they are probably "history", unless they are in a very protected area. However, carefully scratch the stems with a knife. If there is some green under the bark, you might be in luck. If not, try again with another plant. We all get too busy and make errors, and sometimes Mother Nature forgives us. That is the challenge of gardening - working with Mother Nature.
tropicalzone7
14 years ago
Im sorry but unless they are a hardy species, they are gonners for sure. The only hardy species I have ever seen with a braided trunk was a rose of sharon, they usually have pink blooms, but occasionally are white. If the blooms on your hibiscus were something like yellow, peach, orange, anything that looks tropical, it probably was. I have seen hibiscus die in florida. They lose most of there leaves after a light frost and the coldest temp mine has ever survived was 28F (and I really have no idea how it survived). Still it lost all its leaves and didnt flower until october (and since it was cooler outside the flowers werent as nice).

Basically your plant is probably dead, but keep it until mid may and if you get any growth at all, it wasnt tropical and will come back. If nothing happens, its dead.
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I have overwintered tropical hibiscus inside for many years. They are pretty easy to keep healthy. Give them as much light as possible and keep them moist at all times. They use a lot of water (even more when it it is warm and sunny) and don't like to be soggy or dry. From December to March my plants rest (they are in a cool sunny room they stays 50-60 F when it is very cold out). March-April I start to feed with a dilute bloom fertilizer and I prune a little bit for shape. I don't prune much, they bloom earlier when left unpruned. I also repot them with new soil every 2-3 years and cut off some of the old roots in the process to keep the plant smaller. Finally, I bring them outside in mid May, first into the shade to acclimate for a couple of weeks so their leaves don't get scorched by the bright sun. Watch out for aphids, white flies, and spider mites in the winter, they love Hibisus.
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condo_gardener25
14 years ago
From all the information I have gathered,just one night under 50 degrees F can kill a tropical hibiscus. If you want to keep one outside in Ohio, your best bet would probably be to keep it potted, it won't survive the winter :( I hope this one made it for your sake though :) you never know!

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