Perennial Hibiscus

I live in Georgia and planted by Hibiscus last year. After a while, the leaves on the stems looked like they were short of water .... I watered and watered, with no avail. The leaves drooped and fell off. Ok, I waited this year and sure enough, up they came. I have three of them. Two of them are side by side in complete sun. I keep them watered and they grew great. All of a sudden, one looked as though it did last year, the leaves drooped and died. I cut off the branch and continued. It looked fine for weeks, now again two branches are drooping ..... the other plant which is right next to it is fine.

Do you have any idea what could be causing this? I keep them watered ... and yet they are dying. I love these plants but don't have a clue of what to do next.

Thanks in advance for any help at all!

Nancy

Doug says he assumes you're read the article on hibiscus here

While this plant can be a bit tough to get established and will turn those bottom leaves yellow quickly, it shouldn't be wilting.

Wilting is a sign of stress and while you could expect to see a very little in the middle of a hot afternoon, you shouldn't see wholesale plant wilting.

So - I'm guessing soil problems (like heavy clay and too much water or very sandy where the plant can't get the even amount of water it wants to thrive. Ups and downs in water availability or to omuch in clay will create a state where the plant will shed leaves in an attempt to support the upper growth.

There are a variety of leaf spots, rusts and blights that attack this plant but they're going to show up on one or two leaves first - and not with an overall wilting of the plant. So I think we can rule those out.

Bottom line - read the article, improve the soil conditions and get an even supply of water going to this plant.

Also - if you have it out in the full hot sun in the South - it is going to be harder to grow than if you give it a little protection from that brutal heat. They'll take a half day of shade or out of the noon day sun and still do very well in your garden.

Good luck and let me know how they do.