How to winter over a tropical Hibiscus. ?

Do you cut them back? Cover them?

I cut them back but do not cover them, I've had them 5 years, they are the big "dinner plate" variety. Two are mahogany, two are white with pink centers, the other is all white. A tip; I usually buy plants in the late fall because they are on sale at ridiculously low prices, the nurseries in this area don't want to look after these plants all winter.

Hi Barry. Are your plants tropical. ? Mine is pretzel wrapped. .I like in WV and it gets cold here also in winter. .I didn't think you could put tropical in ground for winter. .maybe you have the hardy plants. .thanks for your reply. .

Yes, I must have the hardy plants, I wasn't aware there was two different types of hibiscus. I have some tropical plants, such as elephant ear and banana tree plants, I bring them in and just leave them in the basement. It's dark there most of the time, I don't water them and come spring I bring them out and they start to grow again, I also do that with my geraniums, just leave them in the pot, put them in the basement and come spring I bring them out and water them, in a few weeks they are growing like weeds. My son lives near Detroit, he has elephant ear plants that are huge, he wrestles them into his garage because they're too heavy to take down into the basement, he has a little space heater that he turns on near the plants and they survive during the below freezing temps of Detroit, he as well brings them out in the spring and they begin growing immediately after a little watering. They way I look at it is the plants are not very expensive, if they die I'll just replace them but so far I just keep them in the pot, put them in the basement over the winter and when they come out in the spring they will grow, you might get one or two that die off but so far I haven't had any problems. I watched a lady on you tube, she would pull her geraniums out of the pot, clean off the dirt from the roots, clip the plants back, place them in brown paper bags and put them away in her garage or basement, well I tried that and mine all died, so now I just leave them in the soil in the pot. A friend of mine a few blocks away told me he had a plant in his garage for 3 years, he brought it out and after watering it the thing began to grow again. Food for thought I think we tend to take too much care of plants, they aren't as fragile as we believe.

Hi Barry, did you know that the elephant ear plants are a bulb? All you have to do is dig up the bulb. I have huge elephant ears in my two half wine barrels, and all I do is put the bulbs into a paper bag after I let them dry out for a week or two. I plant them the next spring as soon as the soil in the pot warms up enough.