Cold hardy "coconut"

[Tropicdoc]

^{You gotta plunge plumerias and overwinter in the garage. Had some small ones when I lived in Galveston. Hibiscus are hardy to about 25 F, unless you grow the hardy ones (Rose of Sharon, Texas Star, Rose mallow etc.)}

[Sandy Loam]

I don't have the hardy natives types of hibiscus (Rose of Sharon, Texas Star, Rose Mallow), but when people think of Hibiscus likely Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis comes to mind. Of course, that's a tropical hibiscus which is risky in my region, but does well and grows quite large just two hours south of me (Orlando, Tampa, etc.) I would never have thought of planting Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis in a northern Florida/northern coast climate zone, but for $2.95 they were too cheap to say "no" to this past winter. As a result, this past winter I had a few of them planted out during our only significant cold snap. We had an overnight low of 26 degrees Fahreinheit for a few minutes one night before the temperature jumped up the next day. The hibiscus rosa-sinensis did not show any damage at 26 degrees and they were in front of my house which is always colder than behind the house for some strange reason. They had no protection and were right out in the open. A mile west of my place, the termperature went down to 22 F that night.

I was reading someone in Jacksonville, FL who wrote that her Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis can suffer damage in a freeze event, but they always seem to bounce back (from the roots?) in the spring each year.

Plumerias though ---- I am not willing to overwinter anything in a garage, so it's out of the question for me. However, one of my neighbours seems to have a loquat (not sure which kind) pruned in such a way that it looks sort of like a plumeria. You can't maintain that sparse-branch look on a loquat forever, though, because eventually a loquat tree will become big unless you are quite aggressive with it.

[The7thLegend]

I don't have the hardy natives types of hibiscus (Rose of Sharon, Texas Star, Rose Mallow), but when people think of Hibiscus likely Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis comes to mind. Of course, that's a tropical hibiscus which is risky in my region, but does well and grows quite large just two hours south of me (Orlando, Tampa, etc.) I would never have thought of planting Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis in a northern Florida/northern coast climate zone, but for $2.95 they were too cheap to say "no" to this past winter. As a result, this past winter I had a few of them planted out during our only significant cold snap. We had an overnight low of 26 degrees Fahreinheit for a few minutes one night before the temperature jumped up the next day. The hibiscus rosa-sinensis did not show any damage at 26 degrees and they were in front of my house which is always colder than behind the house for some strange reason. They had no protection and were right out in the open. A mile west of my place, the termperature went down to 22 F that night.

I was reading someone in Jacksonville, FL who wrote that her Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis can suffer damage in a freeze event, but they always seem to bounce back (from the roots?) in the spring each year.

I never cover Tropical Hibiscus and it always comes back for me even when frozen to the ground.

[Tropicdoc]

I have hibiscus by my mailbox that is back from 27 F. Oleander could give you a plumeria look if pruned right