Hibiscus: Hibiscus laevis, 2 by Chillybean

Chillybean wrote:
I just discovered this forum. Normally, I do not look at the specific plant forums, but I was curious and yep... I found Hibiscus.

I did not used to grow much and the little I did rarely turned out well. Then I built up to veggies and sometimes things grew, sometimes not. We use no chemicals, but try different organic methods. But then, uh oh... I discovered birds. I am just enthralled with them and they are a constant distraction. :) This lead to noticing bugs, etc and so on.

Now I am interested in actually trying to plant things. Mostly natives to North America. I tend to buy bare roots or plugs, plant them in various spots around the yard and see how they do. Some thrive, others don't, but I can plant more of what does well. Now that I pay attention to what prefers our soil type, I hope I can do better.

This year, since planting some native hibiscus (Halberd-Leaved Rose Mallow) in 2012, they bloomed for the first time. The leaves started looking sickly (first photo), so I thought the plants were goners again (This happened last year, too) but what a surprise! The little bees seem to really like this. People have suggested transplanting to a drier area or give micro-nutrients. I did some reading up on transplanting hibiscus, and I do not think so. If I want to try a different spot, I'll get some plugs.

I may have a hard time finding a dry enough spot where I can see the blooms from the house. I can go out back; we have a few acres to play with. The last photo shows what a good rain will do to our yard area. Our house stays dry, but we are surrounded with water. It seems to drain fairly quickly, though.