It's a pretty flower but is this tree temperamental or what!? Anything it does not like it will just shed its leaves like crazy and it only blooms one flower at a time... sigh.... is there anything that I can do to make it behave better?

Thanks in advance for your help!

The word "tropical" should tell you that it would not do well in Ohio. If you have it in the ground, dig it up and put it in a pot and bring it in when temps get below 50, or you'll have a dead tree on your hands.

Tropical hibiscus are temperamental plants. They don't like temperature changes, extremes in temperatures, or any other environmental changes. They will drop leaves if their environment changes suddenly, say high daytime temps and low nighttime temps.

Most double hibiscus don't bloom prolifically. The singles bloom much better. Try a 2-10-10 fertilizer. If you give them Miracle Gro or something like that, they will grow and hardly ever bloom. They need low nitrogen fertilizers to discourage growth and encourage bloom.

Hope this helps.

Actually, since I bought it last year, I knew it was a tropical one and I overwintered it in my morning room, where there was plenty of sunshine (OK, this is all relative, I guess, because there is never much sunshine in NE Ohio during winter!!! LOL). It actually did well and even bloomed in the middle of winter!

I need to try this 2-10-10 fertilizer. Thanks for the tip.

Prune hard one year then one third off the next year .., prune at the end of frosts/beginning of Spring and then fertilize with food containing less Phosporous, but high Nitrogen and Potassium, then tip prune beginning of Summer and fertilize with a food high in Potassium and you should get lots of blooms late Summer into Autumn. At end of Autumn, feed with food of equal NPK ie 5-5-5.

Good luck, Brian Kerr.