Welcome, Murillogirl! We need more people from NWO - i'm usually the only one among all the Westerners! :)

You can keep your hosta in the container for the summer and plant it into the ground for the winter. I don't think you want to sink your whole container into the ground but you could transplant the hosta into a large nursery container and bury that. I've done clematis and a rose that way.

As for the hibiscus, i have a Red Shield hibiscus that i brought in for the winter. I just treated it as a houseplant. It began to bloom over the winter, but the blooms are really nondescript - you can hardly tell they're flowers from a distance. But i digress... What i'm getting down to is that yes you can take your hibiscus in for the winter, but you'll have to remember to harden it off again in the spring.

Welcome to the forum Murillogirl!

Yes, Marcia's right that you'll have to plant the hosta into the ground, with or without a pot for the winter. As an experiment I tried overwintering a hosta in a big half barrel planter, and even that amount of soil around it wasn't enough. I do have sedums that come back year after year in pots that aren't sunk though. So it's a trial and error situation.

Laurie

Welcome Murillogirl!

I always overwinter my geraniums in the house for the winter. I just water them less through the winter and don't fertilize till about early March. I increase watering in March as well.

Coleus is another good one to take cuttings from an overwinter in the house -- this one I grow as a regular houseplant for the winter.

The other one that I'm happy with overwintering in the house is the Alstromeria (see the Alstromeria thread).

Ang

I assume we're talking tropical hibiscus and it overwinters fairly easily in the house. Just give it the brightest light you can. It may through out the occasional bloom too. In fall you might want to spray with some type of insecticide as a precaution before bringing it inside.

I have the ultimate challenge. I bought my Mom a hibiscus tree (standard) for Mother's Day. After sitting on my deck for three days, I decided I loved the plant (yeah, as a gardener you probably can relate - it's not hard to fall in love). Anyways, I did give it to my Mom but went out and bought one for myself. So, it looks like I'll be challenged for space in the house this winter.

By the way, I have overwintered quite a few plants by just sinking the pot in the ground up to the rim. It may help to mulch a bit too and ensure it gets good snowcover. For my maple in a nice pot, I just slip a garbage bag around the pot to keep it clean when I'm sinking it.

Glen