Its in a container, still in bloom and just brought indoors, even
though its a hardy variety. Once in, I'm sure the blooms and leaves
would eventually drop...but am at a loss on what to do next with it
until next spring. Do I water it still or leave it dry for the next 4
months? Anyone?

Place the plant in the brightest light available and continue to water
as needed. If I may ask, if this is truly a hardy plant, why bring it
indoors?

I'm up here in cold and nasty Zone 5a and have one, well actually two
(in the same pot) that I have started from cuttings and I've had them
for a couple of years now. I do have to prune them once in a while to
help keep some shape to them and other than good care I don't do
anything special for them. They do go outside after the last frost
date is well past and they come back in before the first frost of Fall.
Indoors I keep them under fluorescent lights in the basement. I
nearly lost it once when I allowed it to get too dry. They need to be
relatively moist at all times with only an occasional "drying out",
just not to the point that the foliage wilts.

Since I do grow mine under lights over the winter and the basement is
on the cool side, I don't lose very many leaves and they do their best
blooming during the long winter months.

I also carry over Lantanas and Tropical Hibiscus. I have one Tropical
Hibiscus that I have had for more than 15 years and it was grown from a
cutting. Every year I play the in/out game with it every spring and
fall and this is no easy feat since it is in a 14-inch pot and is
roughly 3-feet wide and 4-feet tall. I have 2 that size along with 3
in 10-inch pots and 10 or 12 (I forget!) that are in either 1 or 2
gallon pots and 8 of them are seedlings from across I made several
years ago. One has finally decided to reward me with bloom, a very
vibrant red-orange. Because of our somewhat short growing season, most
of my Hibiscus do their best blooming after they have been brought
indoors for the winter.

Well that was probably more information that you wanted! Bright light
and regular watering should keep your Boug. happy enough for the next
four months.


Hemma

I just have a patio, no garden to be able to plant it there for the
winter. In the past, I've lost some container bougies by letting it dry
out after all the leaves and pruning is done. Some say to keep them dry
and others say water sparingly. Those others were not hardy bougies.
Maybe that makes a difference?

A plants hardiness definitely makes a difference in it's ability to
survive less than perfect climates. The more "tropical" a plant is the
more likely it is that it would not survive outside of it temperate
zone. Also remember that not all plants touted as being hardy are
hardy in all zones. Something hardy in a zone 6 garden will not always
survive in my zone 5 garden.

Bringing you plant inside is probably the best thing to do to try to
insure it's survival and if you can grow a few other plants next to it,
this will help as well as it will increase the relative humidity in the
area around the group and keep the potting mix from drying out too
quickly.

As I stated in my previous post, place the plant in the brightest
window you have and keep the soil moist (but not soggy). After all the
bloom is spent, prune the plant back, reduce water to keep the plant
barely moist and if you can keep the room it is in a little on the cool
side (65 -68 degrees), this will also help. The cooler temps will keep
the plant in a "resting" mode and not encourage an abundance of soft
new growth.. When you are able to put the plant back outside, resume
regular watering and fertilizing to encourage new growth and flower
production.

Hope this helps.


Hemma

Thank you for a very informative response