[whartonjelly]

We bought two beautiful hybiscus plants in yellow, for staging our deck. How well do they hold up in Florida?

[jblum315]

My hibiscus bloomed all last spring and summer. I pruned it back and brought it indoors for cold weather, and put it out in the sun again last month. Looks very healthy but no flower buds yet.

[jojo]

Mine have come back the last 2 years. Because I had to prune them way back the buds are just now forming. Some people said they treat hibiscus as an annual.

[SoHumble]

Here in Houston (about the same latitude) they generally freeze in the winter. However, if you cut the way down and then mulch over them really well, they will come back in the spring most of the time.

[mulligan]

And if you take what you cut off and stick the branches in the ground and mulch over the winter, you'll have a hibiscus hedge in no time.

[uujudy]

My hibiscus (hibiscuses? hibisci?) were severely damaged by frost last winter, so I thought they were gone for good. The fertilizer guy came around mid-April, and said not to cut them down until mid-March, so of course we lopped off the dead wood at the beginning of March. (The plants looked so ugly!) One peach-colored hibiscus is blooming its little heart out, others are nice and bushy but no blossoms, and one will probably have to be replaced.

Thanks for the stick-in-the-ground tip, mulligan. I'll give it a try!

[borjo]

My first hibiscus, planted in the ground, grew for about 4 years. It was as high as my spouting. Pruned it about 3 times a year. Frost finally got it but it was a prolific beauty!