For your hardy hibiscus, if it is dwarf bright solid red, it is probably Hib moscheutos Luna Red. These are tough plants, and worthwhile to try to overwinter, they will be a nicer bush the following year. I have many H. moscheutos, dwarf and full size, and have managed to overwinter in 5a, 5b, and friends in Zone 4. I hope the following info helps if you want to try to overwinter it. First: these plants regrow from the roots next year. Don't worry about keeping the current year's branches protected. However, I do not cut down the branches as these plants take a long time to sprout in the spring, and leaving the branches from last year will remind you where the plant is located. Secondly, this autumn, start to cover the root area/base of plant with whatever you have handy: extra dirt, compost, mulch, etc....to cover from the base of the plant out to the drip line and pile it one foot high ( do not worry about the branches, they die off). If you can manage more than a foot high, by all means go ahead.Ideally to cover before the frost starts coming. This huge mounding of dirt, etc.. provides a cover for the roots to give it the best chance to grow again next year. Next year, slowly start to remove the extra dirt, etc... as the flowrbeds are thawing. These plants stay dormant quite a long time compared to other plants, so don't give up hope! In my zone they start sprouting thru the dirt in June, but were in full roar bloom in August. ONce they are sprouting, you can either leave the remaining dirt in place or remove it gradually; at the same time you can start to cut the previous year's dead branches once you can see where the plant is sprouting. I'm sorry for the long post but these are lovely plants and not at all difficult to overwinter. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. Good luck!

I agree with Buford that moving it to a shadier spot will help under normal conditions. This is one hell of a year though that I wouldn't consider normal (at least I hope it's not becoming normal). I have an established hydrangea that's been in place going on 4 years now. It's almost in entirely full shade with just some brief early morning sun. It's always been very happy where it was but this year has been too brutal. I have too much else to baby that I can't really spend time watering it so it's wilted every every time the thermometer hits the 90's even in nearly full shade. The sheer heat is just too intense right now. Sorry I don't have an answer for your question about the drain line. Squirrellypete

I don't think it is either too much sun or not enuf water - I think what you are looking at is cold damage. Open flowers on any type of bigleaf hydrangea now in the PNW is an indication that the plants are either greenhouse grown or from out of state. And the OP indicates these are NOT greenhouse grown plants. At my nursery, we get a lot of plants from California that are well ahead of our local bloom season - hydrangeas here do not start blooming until the end of June or early July. If they came from out of state, they may have not had sufficient time to become acclimated to our colder climate. And our PNW spring weather has been colder and wetter than normal - a relatively mild frost about a week and half ago nipped all the CA hydrangeas we had on the nursery floor and they ALL have an appearance very similar to the OP's - purplish foliage and crispy flowers and leaves. And while it may be warmer daytime in the WW-Milton-Freewater than it is here in western WA, I'd be willing to bet nighttime temps are still pretty chilly. If it is cold damage, they will come back from that rather easily, although you may need to trim off the damaged portions.

I think it depends on the growth climate, type of orchid (even within genus), and your water type. I tried semi-hydro for phal hybrids, Phal pulchra, NOID Brassocattleya, Masdevallia vetchiana. Masdevallia got split in half between sphagnum and LECA semi-hydro, was grown next to each other, then semi-hydro half died in 1m, sphagnum one thrived. Brassocattleya was a rescue, didn't grow roots well in sphagnum, got transferred to LECA semi-hydro, then lost one of its 3 stems and all the roots. It grew some stems and roots back in bark mix, and is now doing ok. Phal pulchra did well in semi-hydro for 3 years, but only flowered twice in that time, so I sold it this year. I have a phal hybrid that had two stems, that I then separated, so I decided to put one in std bark/perlite/sphagnum mix, the other one in LECA semi-hydro. I wanted to test this out on non-species phal before putting all my other hybrids on LECA. Weeeeell, 2 years later, my bark phal half has twice the number of leaves, roots, and flowered twice this year, vs my puny semi-hydro half flowering only once this year and loosing flowers sooner. So I think I'll stop torturing my second Phal Hybrid, repot it into bark like its brother, and close this semi-hydro experiment. I live in Seattle, with 20-40% indoor humidity, with all my orchids living indoor on windowsills, with forced air heating. I water my bark mix phals every week or so, when they are either dry or approach dryness.