Cold tolerant

[Nievesgirl]

Charlie , what are some cold tolerant cv's ? 

I am not sure whats the lowest temperature is in san fernando valley. But my Boy friends mother would like some hibiscus for her garden. I am not sure which cv's I should get her.

[helixturnhelix]

Hi Kerry,

SFV should be fine as far as most hibiscus varieties are concerned.  I see a bunch of hibiscus growing all over the place there, and where I am, which is about 20 miles north of SFV.  Granted most the varieties I see are the more hardy garden varities, but if you provide a micro climate for them, they should be fine.  I would just pick the ones that she likes best!

More cool weather tolerant varieties I know of are: Magic Carpet Ride and Solar Eclipse.  Also if you can manage getting her older plants, they usually come out of cooler weather better than younger specimens.  I am sure Charlie will have more to add to my short list

[Nievesgirl]

Hi Kerry,

SFV should be fine as far as most hibiscus varieties are concerned.  I see a bunch of hibiscus growing all over the place there, and where I am, which is about 20 miles north of SFV.  Granted most the varieties I see are the more hardy garden varities, but if you provide a micro climate for them, they should be fine.  I would just pick the ones that she likes best!

More cool weather tolerant varieties I know of are: Magic Carpet Ride and Solar Eclipse.  Also if you can manage getting her older plants, they usually come out of cooler weather better than younger specimens.  I am sure Charlie will have more to add to my short list

The cv's I am trying to root would do good in her garden but they are still not rooting. I have bought a more powerful root hormone so I will see if that works. But I was thinking about getting her some tried and trues so how they do. I read the info on magic carpet ride so that one will probably be great. I wanted to buy valentines day and give her that for her birthday since she was born on v day but I will grow it out for her for next spring.

[Charlie]

Chris is right about older plants working the best in the garden over winter. They develop thick and woody main stems that prevent much of the cold damage seen in younger plants and are capable of shooting out new stems to replace any that die back in winter. Saffron has been my most successful garden plant, followed by High Voltage and Living Legend.

For big garden plants I have been amazed how vigorous Albo has been. Planted 2 years ago as a 3 foot plant it is now about 12 feet tall and very full and wide. For a hibiscus screen it is unbeatable and the cold winter didn't touch it. For sheer mass of flowers White Wings also does very well in our garden, barely slowing down for winter before starting up again. Below is a photo of Albo and White Wings side by side. Despite White Wings being 20 years old, the 3 year old Albo is the larger one in the photo. It does not have many flowers in this photo because a pesky squirrel has been climbing in its branches and eating the blooms and buds.

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Charlie,

I can't believe albo is only 3!  I just planted a white wings, so it should be interesting to see how it does in the yard.  Im in the process of trying to remove the roses in the yard and replacing them with hibiscus, dont think I can finish in time though...