I have a friend who wants to cut her Hibiscus back to about 4 inches from the ground. She live in MN. She said she cut it back last year. It came back and got about 6 foot tall but did not bloom. My question is did it not bloom because she cut it all the way back?

I have 2 Endless Summer Hibiscus (which hers are the same) and mine only got one bloom each on them this year. I do not cut them back until the spring/summer when they start getting buds and leaves and I know which ones are dead. Should I be fertilizing mine to get them to bloom or was it due to the crazy weather we had this year? Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Hi Jeanne.

Cutting back hardy hibiscus is not responsible for them not blooming. Most likely the cause was lack of food and as you mentioned, the crazy weather we had. You need to feed these guys to encourage blooming. The best is a hibiscus family, Malvaceae, specific food but any 1 tbs per gallon does just fine .. but make it a little richer - about 1.5 tbs per gallon. But only for plants in the ground. They also do best with a minimum of 6 hours of full sun.

I find the best time to cut them back is after the 2nd killing frost. That way they won't be putting out new growth.

Thank you Anne. I passed this information on to my friend. I will also follow this this year and cut my 2 back after the 2nd killing frost.

You're welcome!