Thanks for the info, Donna. I live up above 5500 ft and would love to grow some hibiscus in the ground. I didn't think there were any that could survive the winter. I have a nice bushy plant in my outdoor garden room that is just starting to bloom now. I guess I will have to move it indoors this winter and see what happens. Perhaps next year I will try one of the varieties you suggest and see if I can get some established in the ground.

Luna Blush came through it's first winter this year and was planted in August last year. It is 3.5' high and wide this summer and blooming like crazy. I only put a few inches of leaves on it over winter but it was a mild winter for us but no snow cover. This year I will mulch more. If you have phlox blooming now just watch out for color combos, especially with the orange ones.

I'm in zone 4 and I've found the 'bigger' the hibiscus/plant/roots are when planted, the more likely they will survive. I've gotten the tiny ones and they seem to only have a 50-50 chance of surviving winter, no matter how well mulched or how healthy they were going into fall/winter. If you can find the two gallon, potted hardy hibiscus with the stems about as thick as your finger-the better the chance it will make it through the winter.
**Just be patient come spring!!! Depending how warm/chilly your spring is, they may not make an appearance until late May or even June-don't be too quick to think they are dead and shovel prune them**

**Just be patient come spring!!! Depending how warm/chilly your spring is, they may not make an appearance until late May or even June-don't be too quick to think they are dead and shovel prune them**

Very true according to a man at a nursery I got mine from. He said many people come back in saying theirs didn't come back and warned me to label them well so I know where they are because they won't start growing until the soil is warm and here in Iowa that's not until mid to end of May.

Please tell me if its true...so it is now late June and I have seen no sign of life from the three hardy hibiscus I planted last October from Brecks. I keep praying they will show some sign of life. I live in Mid-Michigan...zone 5 and have been looking forward to these beauties for quite some time now....anyone else have some that showed up late? I've tried keeping the soil moist and added some organic Miracle-grow

Mine are up and almost knee high. They usually don't bloom till Aug/ Sept. If you have a guarantee Nicole you may want to give them a call.

I know that there are 2 kinds of hibiscus: the tropical ones and the Quebec hardy ones (which is zone 5 for Montreal and zone 4 for Quebec city - much higher in the north). Last year, my husband bought 3 tropical hibiscus. When fall came, I got them all inside in my unheated basement with my fig tree; I got them all out in the end of April. and placed them in my mini-hot climate carport afterwards. They are starting to flower again and have many more branches and leaves than last year.

Now this year, my husband bought 2 hibiscus luna, one red and the other one pink. They are beautiful for now and I will let them grow in their pots until late summer. Then, I will put their pot in the ground near the house on the south side, until, let's say around October. Then, after cutting most of the growth down to 1 or 2 inches from above the ground, I will put tons of mulch and dead leaves on them. It is always hotter there, maybe equivalent to a zone 6.

Be aware that our canadian zoning is not the same as the US rusticity zones. The first message in this post comes from somebody in Quebec, zone 5, same zone as me. I hope that those precisions are helpful to you and other hibiscus lovers.