Malini,
Are you coming back to visit us here on the WI forum?

Julie

Hello Julie
thanks for the warm welcome. Yes ,oshkosh is a nice city, very lovely people & just recently we had the EAA..........i thought there were a million people, well , a couple of thousand at least!
Yes i do grow hibiscus.it is a wonderful plant with lots of blooms but sadly only for day.
Do you know there is a mantra to Hibiscus, Water daily, Fertilize bi-weekly,
they like moist but not wet soil.
I grow only tropical hibiscus, they are not hardy, so i have to bring them indoors for winter & give them good light, i have them under the regular GE lights at homedepot(10$), all night they get the light.
If you don't give light , they do not thrive well.
what are your interest julie.
Nice meeting you . Have a nice day

Hi Malini,

Glad you replied about the Hibiscus. No wonder mine died - I probably didn't water them enough. It sounds like you grow yours in pots perhaps? They would be easier to bring indoors that way. Maybe I'll try just one tropical Hibiscus, instead of constantly killing the so-called hardy ones.

What are my interests?
Daylilies and Hostas are high on my list of perennials. I'm always looking for new plants that can thrive in my clay soil that often dries out before I get around to watering, also experiment with plants that can grow successfully under Black Walnut trees. (I've got quite a long list of juglone tolerant plants).

Nice meeting you too!
Happy gardening,

Julie

Good morning Julie,
The hardy hibiscus have seed pods, have you tried to collect the seed pods ,if you sow them in early april, have a nice plant by May or june & they will flower in Summer.
hibiscus does need a lot of care .
Tropical hibiscus ,i bought one at walmart for 2.50$,end of season sale in july.
Daylilies are so pretty , i like yellow daffodil, such a bright yellow color.
Have u tried Oleander ,they tolerate clay soil & dry weather well but they are not hardy!!!!. so you have to pot them & bring them indoors but they thrive well with little care.
I read in a post that Gardenia Chuck hayes thrives well in clay soil & it is hardy(?)& you can enjoy the bonus Fragrance.
how about Hardy fuchsias??

check out this post
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/nwest/msg0722370231266.html

take care, malini.

Hi Malini,

I think the reason Hibiscus doesn't survive on my property, is that we have a lot of wind here, which dries out plant foliage. I've even grown them in fairly protected areas, but they don't last more than two years.

My goal is to find tough, hardy plants that can withstand clay, wind, occasional drought, and our frozen winters.

I Google searched Gardenia Chuck Hayes, and see that it's only hardy to zone 6, so that wouldn't work here. And I don't have room in my house to bring in a lot of potted plants.

I keep adding more daylilies, because they can survive the conditions I listed above.

Julie