How to Replace a Hibiscus With Hardier Plants

Hibiscus plants are bright and tropical, with decorative blooms in red, white, pink, orange, yellow and purple. These plants feature delicate constitutions, though, and survive only in tropical and subtropical areas of the country. If you live in a colder area and want to grow plants that can better weather your climate, pull the hibiscus up at the end of summer and plant tougher species such as lilies, irises and tulips. Leave these plants in the ground all year for a tropical, lush look.

Organic compost
Garden fork
Fertilizer/bone meal

Instructions

- 1
  Prepare the old hibiscus site for the new plants. Tulips, irises and lilies need the same amount of sun as hibiscus, and grow in quick-draining, full-sun sites. Mix the old soil to aerate it, then turn 3 to 4 inches of organic compost into the top 8 inches of soil. Compost provides fresh, new nutrition and retains moisture between waterings. Add bone meal or fertilizer for extra nutrition.
- 2
  Plant tulips at a depth three times their length, with their noses pointing up. Give them 4 to 5 inches each. Plant iris rhizomes with rooted ends down, roots spread and blooming ends up. Leave the top half the rhizome exposed above the soil. Give irises 10 to 12 inches of space. Leave the bulbs for the winter.
- 3
  Add lilies to the plot in spring after the last frost lifts. Dig into the amended bed to loosen it, or amend new soil for the lilies. Plant the bulbs 4 to 6 inches deep with 8 to 12 inches of space.
- 4
  Give lilies, tulips and irises 5-10-10 fertilizer in spring to encourage growth and blooming, and put the plants on a schedule of 2 inches of water every week.

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