down to 40 degrees will my tropical hibiscus be ok?

Well guys, we were blessed! The storm didn't head our way!

Thank goodness. I hope everyone else did too. I have seen some really bad damage on the news.

Kell, I am a 9a and the only time it is truly unpleasant to garden here is August. The heat and the humidity takes it's toll on the plants and me so gardening is limited to the very early morning hours. Many plants hate our hot nights.
It is damp in February, not unlike SF, but we always have a handful of sunny 60 degree days then and that makes us forget the dampness. And, the Camellias are in full bloom then too.
So, really, we garden year round. Now, if only we had cool nights so we could grow some of those California lovelies........

yeah i no what you mean!!! one week, my brugs were wilting @ nite after being watered... of course, that was one of those 100* days/ upper 80* nights
speaking of moisture, have you been getting the rain up in the northern half of beaufort county, that we have in bluffton and hilton head island?

Not much rain here, maybe .2".

PJ Gartin, in her latest "Some LIke it Hot - Flowers" explains why well watered plants are wilty in the summer here. She says, essentally, we feel hot and sticky because the air already has too much moisture and our perspiration does not evaporate, it stays on our skin and makes us feel miserable. Plants stay cool by moving water up into the stems and leaves and then transpiring it into the air. When the relative humidity is too high their transpiration rate slows down because there is no room left in the air for the plants to shed their excess moisture. So, while they look like they need water, they actually have too much water at that time. I did not explain that well, I recommend you read her book. LOL

i understood it perfectly. thanks for the info... lots of ?'s answered! you no what? we need to do a round up! i'll post that on the carolina gardening forum later maybe just a thought.

In Missouri you have the best of all weather:
1. It can and does get befow 0 and sometimes as low as -10 to -15.
1a. Windy when it is cold and still when it is hot.
2. This August we were as high as 104 degrees and 80 percent humidity seemed like forever. (Figured out I can garden to 101 but after that no way.
3. March was in the 80's for about 2 weeks to turn around and drop to 17 degrees for a week, that killed and set back everything that was coming up.
4. Wet weather in spring and dry in the summer.

The MG conference said we have summers like Georgia and winters like Wisconsin. So finding a plant that can take those extremes can be a little trying. Just because it is rated for my zone doesn't mean it will handle the extremes. Winters just get harder for me to handle.
About being organized to garden in a short amount of time (I won't mention the plants I still have in pots from the nursery that I am trying to figure out what to do) it is a test but not as bad as farther north.

I know this is the hibiscus site but I have to share this.
I did learn a tip from a rose gardener (50 years of experience) I purchased a bunch of roses at a discount at the end of the year. Course didn't get them in the ground! Here in my climate this is what he said and it works!
1. where I wanted my rose I dug the rose beds and amended them with the ususal stuff, the difference was I dug this hole almost three feet deep.
2. The end of October I stripped all the leaves off of the rose bush, cut back the canes as normal, it was still in it's black nursery pot.
3. Removed the dirt that I had amended in the hole onto a plastic tarp. Set the rose bush in the bottom of the hole still in the pot and buried it completely. Nothing sticking out of the top.
4. Covered the dirt with mulch and a put a wire cage over the top and mulched with leaves.
5. March I carefully dug up the bush, took the bush out of the pot and planted it.
6. Every rose survived ...total of 7 rose bushes and they were in great shape.
7. If they are bare rooted just lay the rose on it side and bury it.....
Weird huh...