Saucer plants need to move

I have two pretty saucer-sized hibiscus plants I mistakenly planted off down the hill where there is no water source. Up to now, I have been going through heck trying to keep them watered during the summer months. I have a connected hose that's about 150' long and barely gets enough water there. I usually end up hauling water in watering cans. Can you transplant this type of hibiscus? I would love to bring them up to my garden near the house. I was thinking I would water them well first and move them at dusk or early in the morning. I would also like to do that with some Missouri sundrops that are in the same fix.

Yes, you can transplant the hibiscus but it will be very hard on them in the heat of summer. If you do decide to move them; water well, wait a day for the roots to absorb the water (you don't want to move plants with soppy wet roots), and dig them with the biggest rootball you can manage. Have their new soil already amended and the planting hole dug before you move them from where they are currently planted. Cut off any really tender new growth because it saps lots of moisture and rig up some sort of temporary shade for the bushes (leave the shade up for a week or two until new roots form). The shade canopy and regular moisture (don't drown them!) will determine how succesfully they they transplant. The sundrops can be moved the same way, but I'd wait until fall if at all possible. The cooler night temperatures in fall give plants a break and let them recover better.

One other thing you might try is to cut the bottoms off of some sort of jug- milk bottles or 2-liter soda bottles work well- and bury it a few inches deep close to the plant. Be careful of the roots when digging! You then fill them with water and it drains out slowly and goes straight to the roots so you don't have to water as often. And, of course, put a thick layer of mulch all the way around the plants to keep the moisture in and the weeds out.

Also, most hibiscus can be propagated by dividing the root ball or by taking softwood cuttings. I've had success rooting hibiscus branches that my dogs broke off in a glass of water on the windowsill. Last fall when I moved my Disco Belle I chopped the rootball into three big pieces (making sure stems were attached to each piece) and planted them in a group and they are all back to full size and blooming like crazy now. Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for the hibiscus advice! We can't grow regular hibiscus here except as annuals - but I love these anyway. In California, I had year-round hibiscus that grew 8 feet tall. Bouganvillea, too, grew everywhere. Since moving to such a short growing season, I've learned to really appreciate the plants I have. I don't plant any annuals anymore except fill-in petunias and maybe a lantana or two just for old time's sake. Lantana was one of my favorites - so I grow a couple as annuals each year. In the fall I am jumping into trying to grow a rose garden! That should be exciting come spring. In southern Calif. the roses started blooming in Feb. and I had lots of them. Haven't had much luck here, but have been getting good advice on these threads. Thanks again!