Looking for another tree form hibiscus

We have had a "Lucy" for coming up to 4 years and it has been good i.e. not too tall, now about 8 feet reasonably narrow.

We are looking for another similar dimensioned RoS tree with flowers that are different from "Lucy" i.e. not the 'pom-pom' or 'tissue paper' style.

Of course I would love to hear some recommendations.

Are there any 'latest and greatest' tree form hibiscus/RoS that have been introduced the past year or two?

I think Lucy in its natural state would be a shrub not a tree (that is the natural growth habit of Rose of Sharon). If yours has more of a tree form it's either because it was grafted or because it was pruned/trained that way. So if you want another one that looks like it (in terms of growth habit) you could get pretty much any cultivar you like and prune it the same way if that's how you got Lucy to look like a tree, or look for any cultivar with flowers you like that's grafted to make it into a tree form if that's how your Lucy got the way it is.

Your best bet might be to head to a local nursery and see what tree form ones they have. Any given cultivar could be left as its natural shrub form or grafted to make a tree form depending on what the grower wanted to do, so it's more about what you can find available in tree form vs getting a recommendation for a specific cultivar.

'Helene', 'Aphrodite' and 'Minerva' are three very nice newer cultivars that are sterile or almost so. They grow to about 10-12 ft. and can be trained as "trees".

Thanks for the suggestions `Cville`. Is the yearly pruning that must be done to `train` it as a tree quite obvious?

(Maybe there are some threads describing this procedure?)

It's not terribly difficult but can be intimidating if you've not done it before. The form is called a "standard" as you probably already know.

There may be a link on here somewhere. Or your local nursery might also be willing to do it for you the first time to get it started.

Here's another link to a brief pruning "primer".

http://www.ehow.com/how_5687767_trim-hibiscus-tree.html

I just take a straight cutting of a favorite color or kind of tropical hibiscus and train it against a tall stake to the height I want then pinch out the tip and start training it.I have a real nice 6 ft tall and 4 ft wide sunny wind hibiscus as a tree.Nice trunk 3 years later.

Kyle

In the fall of 2011 I purchase a Lil Kim Hibiscus syriacus in a closeout sale for $9.99 from Amazon.

Lil Kim - Rose of Sharon - Hibiscus syriacus - Dainty - Proven Winners
http://www.amazon.com/Lil-Kim-Hibiscus-syriacus-Winners/dp/B000PJFDW6/

The Hibiscus arrived on time and I repotted the Lil Kim into a larger pot but other than that gave in no special attention. When the weather turned cold Lil Kim dropped all its leaves and it sat above ground all winter in my Zone 6b front garden with no special protection. With the return of spring green buds started to develop and I again repotted the Lil Kim into a 10”Dx10”H pot where it will remain until the fall of 2012 when I decide on its permanent location. With a height of between 3 and 5 feet it will be smaller than many of my hardy Hibiscus.

Lil' Kim™ - Rose of Sharon - Hibiscus syriacus
http://www.provenwinners.com/plants/hibiscus/lil-kim-rose-sharon-hibiscus-syriacus

The plant is now growing vigorously and is covered with bright shiny dark green leaves. This plant looks more like a tropical Hibiscus than a hardy Hibiscus but it is definitely hardy and then some. Hibiscus Lil Kim was awarded US Plant Patent PP19547 which is available at Google Patent and several other free patent download websites. The Plant Patent is rich in information and must read for any serious Hibiscus grower.

Hibiscus plant named ‘Antong Two’
http://www.google.com/patents/USPP19547

Hibiscus Lil Kim is most likely a polyploidy stem mutation; it is definitely not a tetraploid mutation which is well known to the Hibiscus hobby. Hibiscus Lil Kim will set seeds, so we should be seeing a lot of interesting genetics from this Hibiscus in the future. I can’t wait until it blooms in July.

Mike


This message was edited Jun 8, 2012 11:54 AM

I planted seeds from my Lil Kim and even the seedlings are staying shorter than typical Hib. altheas. Should prove interesting what I get.

Kyle

Mike I'll get a few pics on Sunday and post them.The plant is only 16 inches tall, the rabbits do a number on it in the winter.Hasn't bloomed yet this year, but bloomed like crazy last year. I still have more seeds left.

Kyle :-)

Mike here is the original plant in a pot, and a 6 pack of the seedlings, they were started in March.



Kyle :-)