Hey summerbreezes, it is a hardy rose mallow and said to be hardy in your area, I came along maybe to late, I am pretty sure you cut them back about a foot from the root and cover with leaves, mulch, try to make dead air pockets that helps to keep heat in I would think you can`t put enough on top and around, in the spring when there is no danger of frost uncover it will take awhile for them to wake up so be patient, hope this helped.

Thanks for coming aboard but this is not bush type its a braided tree type so im not wanting i dont believe to cut it down or a foot from root. I think i should leave as is and in spring trim back top but not into the braided area. Its still in bloom to for the time being as we havent had any sort of kill frost yet. Ive placed plenty of soil to top level of pot all around it and have a wire wrap fence usually used for peony or tomatoe to which ive attached 3ft wide bubble wrap as a winter wind break..we live on lake so this will cut any winter wind burn as its also braced by a large rhodie to cut the wind. On top of all that soil within the bubble wrap circle ive put about two to three inches of packaging popcorn those styrofoam things to hold back a deep freezeline into ground ..i hope. I think that will do it. IT BETTER LOL

Back again and here is a update on my hibiscus..ive taken all the described protection away now that its much warmer. Ive peeled away slightly some of the paper like bark on the trunks of each braid and from what i see there is green..at least low about 6 to 8inches from dirt up. So I gave a bit of fertilizer and before anything starts to leaf out ..if im lucky...i pruned it a bit back..nothing too drastic just to even up the shape...

Question is this..im not sure if the green i saw when i peeled the bark a bit is simple moisture or if its a viable live plant and how soon should i know before it starts to show signs of buds?

A braided Lord Baltimore?I thought only tropical hibiscuses were braided.

Im kinda lost on this one too.Please update us summerbreeze,if this hibiscus wintered over,sounds to me as if tropical.I guess u could braid one but then in the fall when cut back u would have to start all over again braiding in the spring,lotta work.

Hi there ..thanks for responding..ive found out its a hardy rose mallow not a lord baltimore..im still waiting on signs of life from it but understand that could take another month yet from other postings in this zone..also its been odd temps here for the last month. So im suspecting it will be slow..again i took a small area of the dried bark and peeled and saw a bit of green and this time when i was sure the trunk branches were thoroughly dry and not wet from rain etc. So im hopeful...its just the waiting to see what happens and when..and where will i first see signs of life ..sigh..it really was a blooming fool last year did really really well..so im keeping my fingers crossed.