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I'm so excited about the hibiscus crosses Diana sent! One of the crosses she grew out last year had half a dozen enormous (10") blooms on a first-year plant that was barely 2 feet high. She used it as a seed parent for several crosses that she sent to me. I'm going to try to get a whole bunch started, then line them out (plant pretty close together) in a foundation bed where I've previously grown veggies. I figure that's the best way to grow out a lot of seeds from the same cross and then choose the best to grow to full size.
I have the packets all in their own little bin. If you don't care about heritage and just want an assortment, you can take a couple seeds of each cross...
Here's what she sent. I figured I'd post the list instead of putting them on the seed swap tool, since there are 1-3 packets of each. If you're interested in them, you can look up bloom & foliage of the parent plants ahead of time...
Airbrush Effect x Mocha Moon
Luna Rose x Luna Rose (2)
Luna Rose x Midnight Marvel
Luna Rose × Mocha Moon (2)
Luna Rose x Starry Starry Night
Midnight Marvel x Cherry Brandy
Mocha Moon x Midnight Marvel (4)
Mocha Moon x Pink Elephant (2)
Plum Fantasy x Midnight Marvel (3)
Plum Fantasy x Mocha Moon (3)
Plum Fantasy x Pink Elephant (3)
Plum Fantasy x Starry Starry Night (2)
Starry Starry Night x Pink Elephant (1)
Starry Starry Night x Summer in Paradise (2)
Summer in Paradise x Midnight Marvel (3)
Summer in Paradise x Mocha Moon (4)
Summer in Paradise x Starry Starry Night (2)
Summer in Paradise x Summer in Paradise (2)
All the parent plants are EXTREMELY well received patented hybrids (making crosses doesn't violate the patent, not even if you sold the resulting seeds or seedlings; it's just the particular named variety that's patented). Most of them are indeterminate bloomers, meaning they don't just bloom at the ends of their branches but set flowers from top to bottom all season. Pink Elephant has the largest blooms of any hardy hibiscus, at 12" across! Luna Rose, Plum Fantasy, and Midnight Marvel are the only ones I have, so I'm excited about all these new genetic possibilities.
If you haven't grown Hardy Hibiscus, check them out. Unlike their tropical cousins, they are cold hardy to zone 4 and have HUGE blooms (at least 8" across, and most are a good 10"). Some have lobed/cut foliage ("maple" leaves) that can be purple, red-veined, or just green.
Hummingbirds adore them! So do japanese beetles, unfortunately, but they start blooming sooner than JB season and continue to frost, so even if you do nothing about it, you'll just have damaged flowers for a few weeks.
They'll grow in soggy places, some say even in standing water, but they can also be grown in areas that get average water. They do best in full sun but can handle part shade. They look so tropical that they'd be great together with hardy bananas and whatever tender plants spend their summer outside -- plumerias, amaryllis, etc.
Obviously I'm hoping some of you will jump in with me, so we can compare blooms on these offspring!
