Frozen Hibiscus
 

We like many others had our Hibiscus hit hard by the frost in January.
They now look dead. Not sure what to do about this. Will they regenerate?
Should they be cut way back, or what, and when?
We just don't have any experience on how to handle this?
Thanks for any recommendations.

The cold broke it. TRY cutting it back. Can't break it any worse than it is try cutting back 2/3 of the branches

You can Google this, you'll find most advice leans towards waiting until the threat of a freeze or frost has passed. I would wait. I've trimmed struggling hibiscus down to almost nothing, replanted it, and it has flourish afterward.

Nursery told us don't do ANYTHING for a couple weeks yet
We still could have another freeze and cutting back would make it worse

I had hibiscus up north. Sooo difficult for cold to kill it. Don’t worry. It’ll come back. As others have said, don’t trim anything right now. Wait another 4-6 weeks.

Yes for those with luck....they will come back.

Ours (years ago) did not. Along with several other non cold hardy plants (we did not know any better then).
Yes we did the covering, the heat lamps and the hoping.

We no longer plant anything that is not native to the area or cold hardy. No more worry/cover/heat/trim/etc.

Do not cut back for at least two more weeks...........if you can stand it, wait until March.

I had them up North and cut them down to about ten inches every year for the winter. The next year, they always came back. Just wait until it starts to warm up again for the spring/summer and cut the dead off. Most likely it will be fine.

Good advice - follow it. Leave everything in the yard until March, we may have another shot of winter in February and if you do cut back now you will probably lose the plant because once you cut it back it is going to have a growth spurt and if that gets frozen the plant cannot come back. I know the yards look awful, but hang on.

Cut Back
 

I agree . You need to find were the plant is dead. Scratch a branch ,if you see brown go another 12 inches .If you see green cut the branch 1 in below . If brown keep going . The last freeze a few years ago I took the plant all the way down except for one branch . The plant came back to be a full bush that needed trimming 3 times a year.

The official answer:

Winter is here! - UF/IFAS Extension Marion County

Don’t trim until mid March. It will come back.

Pruning
 

Wait until it starts budding then cut it back to the point you see green inside the cut branches, or to the first new bud

leave it alone for now. I have had many of them freeze, they always came back

Don't cut it back until the danger of frost is gone. The dead part protects the rest of the plant

Don't cut it back yet we have another maybe 2 more frosts coming. just leave them alone. Its our winter now,

Unless you just planted them they should come back. It’s amazing what comes up out of the ground every year as it warms up.

Cut back
 

Our Experience: We hate the Hibiscus we have and in October cut our three back to the stump planning to have replaced with some additional landscaping in the spring. Over the following winter months they grew back to anywhere from 8" to 15" tall already. You should be good cutting back.

not yet
 

My Florida grandmother always said wait till after Easter!

From UF IFAS. a wonderful resource for all things pertaining to Florida gardening!

The best time to prune the hibiscus would be just before or just after spring growth. This would be late February to mid-March. Hibiscus responds well to severe pruning. If needed, you could prune it back to about a foot from the ground. But you do not have to go that low. Just remember that pruning stimulates new growth and most of the new growth will occur only several inches below the pruning cut(s). So knowing that the new growth will occur just below where you make cuts will allow you to decide where the pruning cuts need to be made to result in a more natural looking plant. Eventually, the plant will regain its height and spread but it can be pruned again to reduce its size.

We cut ours back to about 12” in early March. They come back nicely from that.

Prune it back on March 11th and 2:30 PM. This is when the plant does best.

it was a hard freeze but things are not dead, but you can't do anything until March incase we get another freeze. If you cut it down now it will freeze deeper in the plant and kill it. So just wait until March and clean up all the dead and the plants should come roaring back.

We had ours freeze a couple of years ago. After researching I concluded the when the risk of a freeze is past, trim 1/3 of the plant down, then wait a week or more and trim another 1/3 down to new growth. Ours came back with a vengeance coming in twice as high as before. Good luck

I read in The Daily Sun that you shouldn't trim until at least March 17th.

Recently talked to a quality landscaper.
He said wait till after the March full moon to trim.
Doesn't feel there is frost after that time.
Will do that.
Thanks for comments.

Does not have anything to do with full moons or holidays. Last average frost date for this zone is Feb 28. Waiting until early March should be good enough. Keep your eye on the 10 day forecasts. Down here, where plants pretty much grow 10 months out of the year, a hard prune is good for regeneration. Most people are afraid to do so until the plant is hit with a hard frost necessitating it. If you never deep trim the plant gets woody at the bottom and looks terrible.

Hibiscus is a pretty plant and are commonly planted in the Villages. They are marginally hardy. I'm not sure why we humans choose to plant the wrong plant in the wrong place and then struggle to keep it alive.

Will it regenerate? The plant will tell you by sending out new leaves in the spring-or not. Sage advice to all. We can chose to work with nature or against it. Now is the best time to do nothing. If, you need to, as I do, roll about in the earth, it is a good time to get a soil test done, pull the weeds in your beds. Look at trees and bushes that have dropped their leaves and decide if some branches small and large should be removed. Trees and bushes do not read. So before cutting look on the internet for the best time to remove branches-it varies with the plant.

Hibiscus
 

I was told not to do anything. This happened to me before and I left them alone. You can always cut it back in the spring if they don’t come back. Some of mine did and others did not. Just give it a chance

Don’t cut it back until 3/15 since if we have another frost you will lose the plant entirely.