Are there any gardeners in the PHX area that are really in to Hibiscus?
Thanks,
Mickey

Hi Mickey,
Glad to see you.

I'm really not into hibiscus. I swear. It grows, flowers, freezes, dies back, looks dead, I trim the dead stuff off and it comes back only to freeze again. I have no luck with this plant and am actually eliminating it from my yard. I have 3 very large plants when I moved here 6 years ago and still have just one very weak one left. Next time the tree trimmers come out it goes.

What are you doing with them. I would think you'd have lots of problems with freeze in Cave Creek!

I have a hardy hibiscus. It's just a "swamp mallow" "Disco Belle White"

Hybrid Hardy Hibiscus (Hibiscus 'Disco Belle White')

I grow hardy and tropical hibiscus. The hardy stay in the garden outside during the winter. I have 7 tropical and they are in very large pots and they spend the winter in my 3rd car part of the garage.

Mickey... are you growing hibiscus? What are you planning with these?

Aguane,
Hi I have several hibiscus and now 3 trees. I have to bring them in for the winter. It is way too cold up here for them and I have to move them around as the summer heats up. I have one hardy hibiscus but that is a different animal. Very few of my plants are able to stay outside for the winter sadly.
Mickey

Mickey - where are you where it's too cold to grow things? Even in the Arctic tundra does things grow.. and I'm pretty close most winters. LOLLLL

I live in the town of Cave Creek out in the desert. The temperature drops a lot at night too. I have to bring in all of my plants other that the oleander for the winter. With new cats that dig in my pots it will be an interesting winter. I love all of the hibiscus blooms that I am getting now.

Toni,
It does or can get VERY cold in the desert in December/January. It's not too unusual to have a "hard freeze". The wind, dryness and cold can really do a number on a garden. I think it was 2006 we had a three-day hard freeze. It was very bad all over the Valley and even in California. Folks lost lots of trees and plants. I think we've had a day or two of hard freeze during winter months since then. Birdbath freezes like a skating rink. It's one thing to struggle through the summers but the winter can be tough, too.

wow.. I remember living in the deep southern part of NM (Las Cruces, which is right next to El Paso TX), and the average winters were a breath above freezing.. but then moving to extreme upstate NY (7 miles from the Canadian border) I find that THAT is cold (average Jan temps are around -10 with the lows in the -30s, not including windchill which can drop it to -40.. one year I remember specifically the ambient temperature high for the day was -23 and the windchill dropped it down to -65. Could NOT go outside for more than a few minutes.. too cold to breathe!!).

And I understand wind & dry.. that's my world here in the Denver metro (SE corner).

I hear ya. My former in-laws lived in Englewood. Cold and dry with snow. People just don't realize that the desert can get very cold. I was really surprised when I moved here from San Francisco where the weather is mildly cold and always damp. I miss it!

We have ice in the winter almost every morning on our second story deck. We are out in the boonies so we don't get any heat from anything at night. We even live on a dirt road and it is colder because of the fact we live down in one of the main washes here.The water runs close to the surface and the evaporation makes things colder. It makes it a very negative micro climate in the winter. A clear night for us is very bad, we loose what heat is left from the day. Almost everything I grow has to come in for the winter. The oleander can be tucked under the eves however.
Mickey

Mickey - You can try what we do here (well, what *I* do). I am zone 5 but I have hundreds of roses that are zone 6 or 7. I mulch the crap out of everything. I put a minimum of 6" of mulch on every rose bush I have... which is a TON of mulch (literally!). So I said to heck with it & just mulched my entire yard. I don't have any grass, just mulch, shrubs, trees (baby), & roses. :D

Thanks about the tip about the mulch but I just can't take the chance. I much my vines in my side yard. I thought one for sure died this winter but it made it and is doing fine. It has taken several years but my trumpet vines are finally flowering nicely.
Mickey

I have learned what I can handle out here and what just dies. I am a very slow learner! I love my oleander. I have many in pots too. I have several that I have made into trees.I just love double oleanders, they flower non stop all summer. I just joined the International Oleander group. I'm very excited. They will sell members cutting and they have over 200 named varieties.
Mickey

That's really cool, Mickey ... So glad you've found that group. I sure can understand the love of oleander in that they are so hardy. Poisonous, but hardy. Can you post some pics? Like to see what you're doing with them.

I wish I could grow oleander here; the fragrant ones, anyway. Tried to grow one indoors, but it died in about a week. I can't remember which one. It was pink, from Logees.

I'd love to see some pics, too.

Logees carried Apple Blossom I think Some people say it is a single and some say it is a double. Oleander can be grown in a pot and taken for the winter. I now have several trees that I have made.
I'll try and pots photos soon. Lately it had been too windy to get any photos. Red is very hard for my to capture the correct color too.
I don't know why your plant died in the house. Perhaps shock? I also run a humidifier in the winter for the plants
Mickey

Did not see this on Hibiscus befor in ATP, I have the Hardy and tropical, have any of you seen the NEW tropical it is like four blooms in one.

This is anoer tropical,
Rosa Sinenses