Do squirrels eat your hibiscus plants?

Question:I live in East Texas, and have LOTS of squirrels in my yard. Last year, and the year before, I had bought several hibiscus plants in pots, and the squirrels stripped them bare, even the leaves and knawed on the branches. I just bought two new ones this year, any advice on how to keep the squirrels away? And why do they eat the plants?

Answers:
I live in the upstate Of South Carolina. Recently we bought a beautiful Hibiscus plant and put it in our flower garden. Each day, from our sun room, we could watch the squirrels eating the flowers, then the leaves, then the tender parts of the stems and they even started digging into the roots. We gave the poor plant to our daughter-in-law in a near by town and replaced with a rose bush. They DO eat them.