I had 3 Rose of Sharon seedlings given to me. I grew them in a pot until they were fully leafed out and about 1' tall, then I took them to our farm and planted them. I had read on another thread that they need to be well watered in the fall and mulched for the winter. I did all that, watered well, mulched with straw and then put a trellis 'cage' around them. We get very strong winter winds here but I thought the things I did would help them survive the winter. Only 1 made it. The remaining one is now leafing out and doing well. I was talking to the lady who gave me the seedlings and she told me that if it had made it through one winter, it should be okay now. I was going to pot it up and overwinter it inside but now I think I will chance it and leave it in the ground for the winter. Marg

and you are atleast 2 zones higher than me! I think I'll keep it in the pot and bring it in to spend the winter in my basement big window!!! Thanx!

I started Hibiscus syriacus 'Bluebird' from seed last year. ItÂs growing in a 2 gallon nursery pot right now, they are not hardy in our zone, so therefore you need to bring it indoors or store it somewhere cool over winter. The best thing to do is let it go dormant for the winter so its will save all its energy for the spring. By doing this, do you have a cold room to store vegetables or a spare room downstairs where its dark and cool? I have a pumphouse that is 12' deep and thatÂs where I overwinter a lot of tender plants. When storing dormant plants, you want it to sleep for the winter, donÂt be alarmed when you see their leaves drop, only water very little like twice just enough to keep it alive, no fertilizer and keep cool and dark.

I think I brought mine up too early this spring, I guess I didnÂt acclimatize it to the spring cool air, sure it was alive, but it dropped all its leaves and is just starting to leaf out again. Next year I wonÂt bring it up till around May 1st.

Btw, if you do a search you will find a Overwintering Tenders thread.

You can also overwinter it by a sunny window, however you run into all kinds of problems IME, infestation, overwatering, dry air, etc, etc.

Good luck,
Sharon

Thanx for the tips Sharon!!! The only cool dark place I would have is under the stairs, would that work?
by the way where in our crazy province are you?

You're welcome, I can't see why not Wildie, just let it sleep.

That's what I'll do this winter then!!!