I've grown tropical hibs for 15-20 years. When traveling in Florida I would buy the uncommon, non-WalMart, non-Home Depot types. I've cut them down to a stump and restarted them. I suggest you give it a dose of SuperThrive and fertilize with Osmocote. Osmocote fertilizes every time you water but won't burn the plant. Put it in full sun and let the soil get really warm. Have you transplanted them into REAL soil or are they still in the soiless mix they came in. I always transplant them into a well draining loamy soil with lots of sand. At this point, I would let them grow some before transplanting. Out of curiosity, why did you leave them outside over the winter?

Thanks you for your follow up, I will try SuperThrive and Osmocote. I replanted my plants after I bought them last year into pots..not garden soil. I replanted them again a couple of weeks ago as it was not growing well again into pots as they did not survive the winter last year. I did not get my pots into for the frost last winter because, well, I had 10-12 pots, and some of them were very heavy and moving them back and forth evertime there was a frost warning was tiresome. I mulched them well, as it had worked out in the previous years with other plants..like jasmine and roses and even this time the other plants are doing well.