A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Hardy Hibiscus hybernating for winter

How do I know that my first time planted hardy hibiscus is going into hybernation for the winter and not just dying?

When do they actually do this? In Oct., Nov., Dec.,etc.?

I noticed that 2 of them have one wilting stalk.
The rest of the plant is okay. Is that normal for a stalk to die off??

New York zone 6

Does it have any orange things on
it's stem anywhere???

HI Pelham Manor Cats.i grow a lot of hibiscus and my hardy hibiscus are just now loosing there leaves the stalks will die.i cut my stalks off when they all turn brown.then mulch them down with pine straw till spring. after all chances of frost are gone then uncover them.you are in a diffrent growing zone than me so i would think yours are doing ok just dieing back for the winter.hope this helps.your friend in gardening mike57

Hi PMC -

I don't have an answer for you, but just wanted to welcome you to the forums. I grew up in New Rochelle, not too far from you, and am now just on the other side of the Hudson.

Do we assume by your name, that you are another cat lover? How many do you have, and what are their names?

I had 9 at one time, all strays, except for 1. They were living in my backyard when I lived in The Bronx. The mother kept having kittens, so we trapped her and had her fixed. All her kittens were born with Feline Leukemia. Eventually they all passed as the leukemia worsened. 2 of her kittens came into my house. They were brother and sister. The sister, Alabama, died at 3 years old from leukemia. Her brother, Apricot, lived to be 11 and died last year of the disease. Actually after we bought this new house in Pelham last year, we had to put Apricot to sleep on the night before we closed on our new home, June 16, 2004. Shadow(not a stray black cat) died on July 15, 2004 from Feline Aids (was bit by a cat) and Apricot's mother died on August 13, 2004. We had to build a pen to keep her in, since she was wild and would have ran away from the new home. We are left with Tiquila, a cat given away by its owener, our neighbor in The Bronx, because she was tired of taking care of him. Last year we found out that the sore between his back 2 toes was cancerous. We took him to the Animal Medical Hospital in Manhattan and now minus on little back toe, they removed all the cancer. We had it hard last year.

My cats were: Mommie, Colorado, Wyoming, Patches, Apricot, Alabama, Shadow, Littles,Tequila.
Colorado, Wyoming, Apricot, Alamaba, Patches, Littles all were born from Mommie.

Prior to that we had Willie and then Winkie, both strays.
When we moved, my husband dug up all the graves and reburied them in Pelham. Only Shadow and Apricot were cremated because we were between houses and could not bury them.

How many cats for you?

Hi again PMC ~

We currently have 3 indoor cats, and 2 that we feed on our 2nd story deck - they are feral, but Fraidy (black and white) has been coming around for about 3 years now, and Slinky (pictures in the Banter Hall here) just started coming around a few weeks ago.

We got our 2 sister calicos after our first cat, Cookie, had to be put to sleep as she was dying from bone marrow cancer. She was only 4 years old. I found Roxie in the nursery section of a WalMart. A boy, about 10, was walking around holding this tiny kitten and I commented on how cute it was. We had been looking for a calico - my daughter didn't want another cat who looked like our black and white Cookie - it was too painful for her. The boys mother grabbed her out of his hands and shoved her at me saying "you want her, take her!!!" Her baby was allergic to cats and they had 3 more of the litter at home. I wanted to see the rest of them before deciding on this one, so we went to her house and ended up taking the 2 calico sisters - we named them Roxie and Amber.

Then, last year, my daughter really wanted a black cat to name Salem, like the cat on the old TV show Sabrina. We found our Salem (female) at a shelter where our son went to college in Ithaca. We've had her just over a year now, and she's some character! Definitely acts like "the new kid on the block" strutting her stuff, but also lets us hug her to death. She's been pretty mute all this time, but is starting to make squeaking noises, and this morning made a definite MEOW! Finally!!!

Sorry you had so many illnesses with your kitties. I know how hard it is with one, let alone so many for you. Glad you were able to take most with you in one form or another. We, too, buried Cookie here, and I've planted a garden over/for her with mostly white flowers since she was black and white.

Not sure, how many do you have currently?

We have a few cat lovers here on the forums - especially our wonderful forum host Catlover!

Hey you two , go get into that
The Critter Corner!!!!
We JUST opened it up and would
absolutely love ~~~~~>*Lynne* for you to
copy and paste your first question
in there and have Pelham do the same,
and you guys can yak all you want...
***anddddddd I'm sure you'll get one
or two more meow's, er, um, posts
on your subject....
And then I'll x these off the hibiscus
post!!!!

sowwy Weezie!

(hanging head in shame...)

ok - I moved mine down to the critters forum...

Where do I find this critters forum?
How do I copy and paste mine to there?

Can someone do it for me or do I have to do it?

Here, Lynne went down and started the thread
from Pelham Manor Cats\' post above

There's alot of members here that have animals
and we started that area so we can all yakk
about them...it's a fun little place to talk
and share...

**if you need more help, don't hesitate to ask~*

**Lynne,
Thanks!!!

Critter Corner is a cute little area that's opened..
Hope you guys enjoy and post lot's of pictures
of your pets..*

The stalks should be cut back all the way to the ground, then?

yes they can be cut all the way down to the ground then.but i leave mine abought 1 inch tall so i know where to find them come spring.your friend in gardening.mike57

can you grow hary hibiscus as a house plant??

Linda

Hi linda12159 I do not know about that.i have never tried it.guess you might try it and see if it works out for you.i do know that they can be grown in a green house.you could try it and see if they will grow as a house plant but make sure it gets lots of sun and humidity using a cool mist humidifier keep the soil lightly moist not water logged try pruning it back after it blooms also place your pot on a tray full of small rocks with water in it this might help with the humidity.hope this helps and good luck with it if you decide to try it let us know how it turns out if you do.your friend in gardening.mike57

thanks mike.....i think i will give it a go, i have a well insulated porch that keeps fairly warm in the winter and has a great southern exposure. i sure will let everyone know how it goes! thanks for your input mike, your always so helpful!!!!!!!

Linda

Hmmmmmm.......what was i thinking....LOL

I still got spiders on my mind.....

You are very welcome anytime i might be of some help to anyone i try to do so.your friend in gardening.Mike57