Last year I bought a Strawberry smoothie Althea . It’s potted in a patio planter. There is no growth on it this year, but below seems to be a lot of small plants. The shrub it self the branches are rubbery not dried out .Is it possible I lost the shrub but it dropped seedling?
Hardy plants like your althea can’t survive the winter in containers. It is a hardy plant in our area but only if it is in the ground where, once it goes dormant, it stays that way all winter. The repeated freezing and thawing of the pot over the winter. doesn’t allow the plants to properly go dormant to survive winter. I think it is dead. They do produce lots of seeds though and the chance are good that that is what is growing below. If you want them to grow, you should transplant them into the ground somewhere.