This might serve as a question as easily as it serves as a comment.
In six and a half years gardening in this location I can easily say this Hibiscus gets more comments, more raves, and more requests for cuttings than any other plant in my garden. I know I'm supposed to... but I just don't get it. I'm always polite... I thank them for their compliments and agree with them that this Hibiscus is beautiful... and I mean what I say. But I just don't get it.
They walk past the Dutch Iris, the Oakleaf Hydrangea, the Exbury Hybrid Azaleas, the Hellebores, the Alliums, the Spanish Bluebells, the black-leafed Elderberry, the 'Black & Blue' Salvia, the 'Rooguchi' Clematis, the Hostas and the Heucheras, the Cranesbills, the Gooseneck Loosestrife and any number of other perennials in bloom... and they say things like, "Oh, that's nice." or "Very pretty." The only thing they say about the Peonies is, "They don't last long, do they!" And one woman's comment about my eight varieties of hardy Ferns was, "Well, they come up... and that's it."
And then they go absolutely bonkers over this Hibiscus.
Don't get me wrong... I like this Hibiscus... its foliage is not your usual Hibiscus foliage... and the blooms are a wonderful deep, dark red color.
But going bonkers over this plant to the exclusion of all the others is, to me, kind of like going bonkers over a large planting of Impatiens, or Periwinkles, or Marigolds, or [God Forbid!] bedding Begonias.
Sometimes I think the smaller the bloom the more attention it deserves... with the exception of Impatiens, Periwinkles, Marigolds and [God Forbid!] bedding Begonias of course.
I'm not being very nice, am I?
In my Zn 5 New England garden the (Japanese and other?) beetles absolutely devour this plant. I don't like to spray (Because I'd be doing it weekly!) so by the end of the season, this plant is literally naked. It's a shame because it's a great plant, but wow. They should include it in those 'bug bag traps' and they'd be more effective :\
I got seeds in the NFSR Swap in Dec. 2018 of many of DraDiana's crosses of lots of these beauties. I'm excited to sow them in Feb. 2019 for late Summer blooms. I'm especially hoping the dark leaf trait of 'Midnight Marvel' & 'Starry Starry Night' is passed in those crosses with whites and shades of pinks to reds as well as the large 8" + flowers.
I am so excited to get seeds in the 4th annual NFSR Swap in Dec. 2018 for DraDiana's cross of this beauty with her 'Starry Starry Night' that has dark leaves. I'm hopeful their offspring will be very special. I will post a picture if all goes well by late Summer.
I'm in zone 9, and so far in 2018 my potted plant has grown from 12 inches to 4 feet and is flowering. I cut it back to 12" in Dec. so it's easy to bring in my garage during winter freezes. I also put the cuttings in water to start a few new plants just in case I lose my plant. Last year the plant got 6 feet tall by fall. It would have gotten taller, but I trimmed it every couple of months, so it got bushier. It's a such an eye-catching color.
I have these plants blooming this week, June 15, 2018. They are 6' and growing near my red ones by a wood fence where my neighbors can also enjoy their tropical look from their pool just over the fence. They'll bloom most of summer and grow to about 7 feet tall here in south Louisiana, zone 9.
I'm in south LA., zone 9, and my 7-foot-tall plants have their 1st flowers this week. I planted them by my back wood fence so my backdoor neighbor could also enjoy the blooms from their pool just over the fence.
My 2 plants were from a 5" wide root crown I got in a trade 5 years ago. I wanted 2 so just cut the crown in half with a serrated knife. They went straight in the ground in a flower bed against the north side of my house. It's a drier area under a gable where roof water doesn't fall and it's shady all winter but sunny all summer. They sprout in March as temps warm a little and grow to about 4' by mid May and start blooming their beautiful plate-sized flowers into summer. It's June 11, 2018, and they are full of buds and have had several flowers open since June 1. I posted a picture side by side with a paper plate to show that they grow to 8". Mine don't make seeds. Propagation would have to be by root crown division or cuttings, which I've never done.
The Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) is commonly sold at a large number of conventional nurseries as various cultivars for the garden or landscape, with the "Southern Belle' series of Red, Pink, or White flowers and plants 4 to 6 feet high being the most commonly sold. In gardens it likes moist soil and full sun and can be attacked by Japanese Beetle and White Fly when they are abundant. It is one of those perennials that one does not ever divide, just leave as is.
I've seen wild Swamp Rose-Mallows in various marshes, swamps, and wet meadows here and there in southeast Pennsylvania with the flowers being white to medium pink. The native range of this Swamp Rose-Mallow is from Indiana to eastern Maryland and then southward into the deep South below that. (My old wildflower book of "A Field Guide to Wildflowers by Peterson & McKenny lists a Hibiscus palustris as a Swamp Rose-Mallow that grows in brackish or salt water marshes along the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts into North Carolina and in fresh water marshes along the Great Lakes and that has slightly broader leaves.) I would say they are the same species, and it could be H. moscheutos palustris or one could go the other way and have H. palustris moscheutos for the former plant.
Sorrell is a popular drink in the Carribbean during the Christmas season. Touching the outer layer of the pods and then touching your skin will cause severe itching.
This summer was the first year after at least 10 years that I actually had new plants volunteer from seed. I had tried on several occasions to plant seed and none ever geminated. This year I kept finding new small plants popping up all in the lawn. This year my neighbor discovered a plant growing probably 100 feet from any of the others I had given her. It is amazing how fast these plants can grow.
H. arnottianus blooms heavily, and the flowers sometimes have a faint, pleasant scent. This hibiscus is tougher and faster growing than the fancy large-flowered hybrids, but slower than some of the other species. Remarkably tolerant of temperatures down to freezing for short periods. Well-suited to growing in a container, but I would recommend 5 gallons+.
if you have an iguana problem, do not plant this hibiscus in the iguana-prone areas. They love this plant and will eat it to the bone (same as moringa). This is a very tasty plant for them. You can try to wrap the stalk in foil - it might scare them, iguanas don't like shiny reflective surfaces - but having foil hanging out in your yard can look unsightly. Mine was grown hydroponically and was pretty happy about it, so a water feature is also a good idea for this hibiscus. It's now grown in a group of alocasias and colocasias in soil with wet feet and is enjoying it immensely. Wilts if there is too much sun, so better put it in partial shade away from iguanas.
The main thing I don't like about hibiscus flowers is the red eye. It's not that it's ugly, it's just so commonplace with lighter colored hibiscuses--and it reminds me of Rose of Sharon, which are even more common here.
I winter sowed three of these last year from open-pollinated seed I was fast enough to grab in a group swap, and they all sprouted. Although they attempted to grow, I wasn't attentive enough to keeping away the groundhogs and deer, and they kept being chewed back. This year, though, I was much more protective--and also anxious to discover whether they would come true from seed. I was very excited when the first bloom opened pure white! I got a beautiful show from June to July. I may have gotten a longer bloom if I watered more regularly when we hit a dry spell through July, but I was happy with what I got. I did not spray these but had no rust, although some Lady Baltimore offspring (didn't come true to color) nearby did rust somewhat, in shadier conditions, and I worried it could spread.
They're still out there, getting watered more regularly, although I don't really expect more blooms. Can't wait till next year!
Hibiscus poeppigii is known as Fairy Hibiscus because it can bloom when the plant is as small as six inches. It is possible to grow it from seed to bloom in as little as four months.
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