I need ideas for winterizing my southern plants and enjoying them yearround in upstate NY.?

i have tropical braided hibiscus trees, crape myrtle trees, and a few others. I prefer doing things in pots cause the soil is lousy here. I have limited indoor space and alot of shady areas outdoors. most of my hibiscus trees are only about 3ft high and the crape myrtles are about the same. I brought them all in this winter, but the hibiscus isn't blooming like it should. I'm new to NY and just looking for advice on enjoying my trees yearround. I thought about a portable greenhouse, but i think height would be an issue, and again theres lots of shade around here.

I need ideas for winterizing my southern plants and enjoying them yearround in upstate NY.?
You can create small protected enclosures for them, using some wooden frames, potentially with some plastic stapled onto them - ensure there are some holes to allow air to enter and leave.



You can then fill the area inside with straw, dried leaves etc, that will keep the inner temperature several degrees higher than in the garden outside. You can also surround plant stems and trunks with pipe insultator too, within this structure. Garden fleece is good for a few degrees of extra protection, and this can be wrapped around some plants, which will help.



Overall, as with humans in the cold, layers adds warmth, or prevents loss of heat.



There's a link here to someone who uses their own protective enclosures:http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/... as well as pictures of their garden in summer.



Otherwise, it's possible to use something like christmas lights, that will increase temperatures during the night time.



Hope this helps. Good luck! Rob
Reply:No way to winterize and keep outside all year. The NY winters will kill them. Also, these will grow fairly large, so potting and bringing in each winter will become problematic. The only way to go would be a fairly tall, heated greenhouse.
Reply:Yikes, you don't want much %26lt;G%26gt;. I think a heated greenhouse may be the only way to go.

Is there a public botanic garden around? If they have a house for tropical plants? They may, but it probably is glass and in the sun. Yup, heated greenhouse for you.
Reply:maybe you can extend your house with a green house. you can make it large so you can fit all your plants. maybe you can also dedicate a room in your house to your plants
Reply:A greenhouse is what you need. Remember that they need to be heated. Learn all about greenhouses here:



http://www.greenhouses.com/



Happy gardening to you.