Hello all.

I am new to hibiscus. I purchased my first hibiscus from the nursery yesterday. It had beautiful, open bright red flowers on it and healthy glossy green foliage. The guy at the nursery told me that it wasn't ready for planting out yet and he said it hadn't been hardened off. It had been in the greenhouse it's entire life. I wasn't worried about the planting out part because it was to be a container plant. He just told me to acclimate it for a couple hours each day in a shady spot for a week or so and make sure to bring it in at night until the temperature is consistently warm at night. He also told me that it doesn't like to be kept wet and to let it get almost dry between waterings.

I took it home and repotted it in a 12-inch clay pot with a good soilless mix. I noticed that it was extremely root-bound so I lightly squeezed the rootball to loosen it up a bit. I set it in a shady area outside for a couple hours and when I came back the edges of the flower had turned black and crispy and the flowers had completely closed up. The foliage still looks great. It was extremely windy yesterday and the temp was about 70 degrees when I set it out. I was wondering what caused the flowers to react so dramatically. Could it have been the wind, shock from transplantation or such a dramatic change in environment? Or a combination of the above or something else? Will the plant recover? Is there something else I should (or shouldn't) be doing for this plant? Please help. Thanks in advance.