Variegated Tropical Hibiscus 'Snow Queen'

I paid about $10 for this plant at Lowe's or Home Depot in Humble, Texas (just northeast of Houston) a couple of years ago. There were o...Read Morenly a couple of blooms on it, but I bought it for the beautiful foliage. I thought any blooms would just be an added bonus. I planted it in a sunny spot in my front yard where the soil is mostly clay and sand, and it grows very well there. It has never produced many blooms, and the flowers each only last a couple of days, but it is still a beautiful plant and I highly recommend it.

We have left it in the ground, cut it back and covered it the past two winters and it has survived our winters here. There has been a little frost bite, but the plant has grown to between 5' and 6' tall and wide each summer and we have to cut it back to about 3' tall and wide in the winter to get the tarp to fit over it.

'Snow Queen' Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is one of my very most favorite plants. The leaves change color depending upon the age of the leaf, t...Read Morehe light intensity and amount and the temperature. It is like having several different plants in the same spot because the foliage is an everchanging canvas of color as the year goes by. Because it is right by the entryway to my house, I stop and admire it all of the time.

The first year I had it in the ground, it produced very few blooms and they were quite small. The second year, the blooms were more numerous and much larger and it grew into a much larger plant. I think this was because it was more established as well as it received more direct sunlight because I had my oak tree trimmed back. I took stem cuttings fromwhich to propagate it. They did not root as successfully as the stem cuttings from my other hibiscus plants for some reason. I only had 2 out a lot of cuttings root well. I will try again. This is a fabulous plant.

I planted this particular hibiscus around the forth of July it produced lots of flowers right from the start. I picked this plant becaus...Read Moree it was varigated and I have noticed that the more sun it recieved the pinker around the edges of the leaves. Neat huh? I am going to bring it in for the winter because it has done so well I don't see any since ti just let it freeze. I have been told just to mulch it in good and it will live but I am not going to take a chance. It has tripled in size in 2 months with regular weekly fertilizing with regular old 10-10-10. Next year I might try something differentand see how it works.

I took the plant out of the ground and it has been on my pation for about a month and a half the darn thing has new life there are about 12 new buds and it is huge. It will have to be put somewhere to be appreciated next spring when I set it back out in the yard. I will have to get a pic.

I´ve noticed that many transplanted plants are developing green-only leaves. Then I´ve read that rich fertilized soils can make the pla...Read Morent to change colors, which wouldn´t be quite interesting for this variety.