Proud Momma of my Garden Variety Hibiscus

I so enjoy seeing all of everyones beautiful hibiscus. I currently only own two garden variety hibiscus. One in particular I bought about 5 years ago in a little 4" pot. I have brought her in each winter and protected her from the temps as low as 12 degrees... repotted her as needed and figured out how to keep her alive in our dry 112 degree heat. This spring we has weeks of constant wind after I moved her out and she had to stay out and bear the 40 to 60 mph winds... after looking beautiful and blooming all winter for me the winds took nearly every leaf off! Now, about 4 weeks later and lots of TLS she is fighting back. Here she is today... 3 blooms.. only 2 visible because is turned the opposite way. She is rewarding me with 1 to 7 blooms a day and leafing out wonderfully.. a great Mothers day!

Congrats!
Say what you may about the exotic cultivars, there's nothing like a strong, reliable garden variety!
Barb

It's looking good Tammie and will probably look even better just in a few short weeks.

If the weather stays like it is right now!.... strange.. after 100+ days and 5% humidity... it is only 58 right now and the humidity is 86%!!!!! Where did the heat go and the humidity come from? Don't take me wrong.. love the humidity.. my plants are probably thinking they died and went to heaven but where did the heat go? I watered the daylights out of everthing yesterday so they have all day to really relish in the ability to enjoy the water without having it sucked out of their leaves by the sun! Guess my plants are having a nice "relaxing" day!

I'm envious of your cool weather. It's 92 degrees again here today and the teperatures will basically remain the same now for many months. We won't see 58 degrees until some night in late October at the earliest. At least we don't ever get above 96 or 97 degrees here. We have never ever had a 100 degree day.
Jon

Envy away.. it won't last long and we will be 100+ and miserable.. this is just a short unexpected reprieve. A very appreciated one... burrrr.. it is actually COLD today!

I don't mind the heat here because it never gets THAT hot. Although I have to admit that I much prefer winters here over the summer because it's just so humid every single day. What I like about it the most here is that we can garden 12 months of the year.
Jon

Tammie

We have been having those same 40 to 60 mph winds here in my neck of the woods too. It is awful. I'm surprised you can keep blooms on your plants. I will be so glad when these winds die down. Of course, then we will really feel the heat.

Yeah Jon you can actually overwinter coleus in Florida--not big deal to you since you're not into coleus, but for us coleus addicts, a definate plus for Florida.

Yeah, you know me pretty well Patty. I do have just one Coleus plant that I've had since last spring. It's called Coleus "Sedona". It grows like mad and always has to be pruned back.

Jon

Coleus is an annual here.. but we love them.. keep buying them. The winds died down 4 weeks ago.. that is why I have blooms .. and leaves now.

You are lucky; we may get a reprieve sometimes in the evening or early morning but then by afternoon it's howling. I've actually put up some plastic on my patio to serve as a windblock to keep my patio plants from getting blasted by the wind.

Is it always windy there this time of year? Our heaviest winds are generally during the winter. Only time its windy here in the summer is with the onset of a severe thunderstorm or with a Hurricane..of course.

April and May are the windiest months here on the coast, but the winds seem higher than ever before. I'm surprised I have blooms on anything. The front yard is constantly covered with branches off of our mesquite tree. I love to sit on my patio and look out on my back flower bed either in the morning before I leave for work or in the evening, but lately it's just too windy. Summer will get here and the winds will die back, but then it will be really HOT.

Yep, it will get real hot. Thank god for the lemonade!!!

This year the spring winds lasted longer than usual and were much stronger but we got through them.. glad they are finally over.. the heat came on earlier and faster though. Gee.. temp is all the way up to 66.. LOL guess I better be careful and not complain. Who knows what it will be tomorrow

Sorry to hear you are getting blown away. I know how it feels. I am used to the wind and I really got tired of it this year.

I lied a little.. this pot actually has 2 plants in it.. one is a yellow, one is a red.. the red bloomed today.. and the yellow has 5 blooms.. and my little plant that started as a 4" pot last year and is now 2 ft tall has a little pink bloom today.. I have a total of 7 blooms today! I am a very HAPPY CAMPER!!

Lucky you. I just pruned many of mine in the past month so not as many blooms. Many were getting too leggy so it was time to do some reshaping. It's probably going to be a couple of months before they start blooming again.
Jon

I am going to have to do a little pruning on my big one.. I usually do about one limb every 2 or three weeks so I don't notice the missing blooms and do it during the most bountiful time which is coming up. If I don't start soon my postal carrier is going to protest having to get past it to get to the front gate. It is already reaching out into the yard and when the sprinklers come on I have to pull it back or it gets extra water directed into the pot.. then it is too close to the gate....in other words.. it is getting too big for its spot! This is its second spot it has outgrown.

Well, my GV hibiscus really did me proud today.. a total of 10 blooms! Everywhere I looked there was a bloom and that did not even count all the older ones that were not completely spent. It was a wonderful day.. overcast, humid, breezy and cool in the low 70's!

Yeah it was cool here today also. More clouds and just a bit of sun with a high only in the low 80's. I think its supposed to get all the way down to 72 degrees overnight. We won't see any lows in the 60 again until mid to late October.

Jon

Well, it is 60 right now and going to get to 52 tonight.. I am cold! my poor plants are not going to know what hit them. Guess I should bring in the babies.. they are not used to such cool temps. LOL

LhasaLover, did you take a photo of it with the ten blooms on it, I would have loved seeing it with the ten blooms, and also would like to see a closeup of one of the bloom. it just happens that I love yellow hibiscus, in fact I just love all hibiscus no matter what color it is, LOL.

Wilfred

Well, the blooms were scattered around the entire bush but here it is anyway.. this pictues shows some of them.. I need to cut it back.. starting with the limb hanging down with the bloom on it! LOL Wonder if I could root some of the cuttings? I have never tried. There are more blooms on the other side.. it is on my front walk so the neighborhood can enjoy it!

Here is a bloom. I have had this for 5 years .. growing strong. I am trying not to repot it this year.. maybe next year. The color is darker on cooler days.. I rarely get to see it darker! LOL

edited to say this is a picture from several years ago.. same plant.. don't know why the petals are so reflexed.

This message was edited May 17, 2009 3:42 PM

oops. that was the wrong picture.. how about I run out and take a picture real quick............................ this is day 2.

Lhasalover, by any chance is "Lutea" its name, I have one that looks almost like it, and I love it.

Wilfred

Lhasalover, forgot to tell you, you can root the cuttings, they root quit easily, check some of the rooting technique they have on hibiscus propagation, maybe somebody will give you log-on sit you can go to, I don't do it myself because I don't know how to do it, still have to learn how to do a lot of thing you can do on the forum.

Wilfred

They sure do look alike. I just know I bought mine as a no name at home depot in 2003 as a little sad looking plant. There are actually 2 plants in the pot. The other is a little red.. the flowers are smaller. It has bloomed a couple times so far.

I will look up the information on rooting cuttings and give it a try. I wait for a limb I want to cut to stop flowering then CHOP!

Well that's going to take a while then, when this babies start to bloom the don't know when to stop, mean while enjoy the show.

Wilfred

It is 6:30 in the morning.. I am soaking wet, freezing and happy as a clam to be that way.. it is RAINING!!!! just sprinkling but that is water on my yard and plants that I am not paying for! I have been outside putting anything that will hold water out to catch it coming off the house... using my little bucket to get what I had in my 30 gallon barrel that I just filled 2 days ago with water from the hose OUT.. so it can fill with fresh rain water.. YEA. Any rain water is better than tap water. Just 30 minutes of slow steady will fill it and I have 2 20 gallon tubs out there also. Just had to share. This will be the second time I have had a chance to fill them in about 10 months!

Real rain water really makes quite the difference. We've had some rain everyday this week from Monday-Friday and its quite the difference watching things grow with real rain water compared to tap water.
Jon

You should have seen me in my nightgown running around moving plants out into the rain.. it was just a slow drizzle but I don't care.. any rain and they were going to get the advantage. The sun was coming up.. people were leaving for work and I was in my wet gown in the rain with plants... I can imagine what the neighbors thought... there is that crazy lady with her plants again! LOL Still off and on an occasional drip or two only total of 1/4 inch but that is a LOT compared to nothing. My rain barrel is almost full.. have many 3 gal buckets full .. the 20 gal bins are 1/2 full... and forcast for more. YEA!

Yeah, I was moving pots out into the rain earlier in the week and moving some out of the rain a day or two later. You cares what the neighbors think! Our surroundings look a lot more beautiful than theirs and they can never call is lazy. LOL@them

Well, I did not think it was possible to be more proud or astonished by this hibiscus than I was today when I walked out to get my paper. I was shocked by all the yellow that met me when I looked out the gate.. 12 blooms all over the plant. Since the leaves have not filled in yet and she is still very lanky they show through everywhere too. I could not be more happy. I had to count 3 times to be sure I was seeing right. There are also several that have not fallen off that are older so it has even more yellow spots! I am definitely a PROUD mom today.

We have had rain 3 times since saturday.. I have over 100 gallons of rain water stored ...

She's starting to fill out though. I see lots more green than before. Don't you just love all the multiple blooms. What a difference God-given rain makes. We finally have started getting rain this past week after a very long drought.

Definitely filling out.. the camera also seems to grab the stems and make them blare out at you.. she looks much better in person! I have been eying a couple places I want to prune.. of course every time I look there is a bloom on them! Only one or two at a time. I know for sure which one if first if it will ever stop blooming! She will be simply georgeous when she finishes filling out!

I told you so, when she starts blooming she doesn't know when to stop, I think you might have to sacrifice one or two bloom if you want to start your new cuttings this year. You won't regret it, you'll notice were you cut it you'll get lots more new branches with lots more blooms on them.

Wilfred

Yeah its filling out and still blooming like popping popcorn. Rub it in, rub it in!!! I have a question...we're always referring to hibiscus as "she" as in "she's blooming great". How can we tell the difference between a male and a female hibiscus? LOL
Jon