Hibiscus is so exotic and beautiful.

Joined
Apr 5, 2020
Messages
387
Reaction score
172
Location
Tri Cities, WA (Columbia Basin)
Hardiness Zone
7a
Country
United States
We have "dinner plate" hibiscus in several colors. The blooms are up to 8 inches across. Where we are they die back to the ground in winter and reemerge in late spring (LATE!! - Don't give up and dig them up). They now rapidly grow up to 5ft high and wide and bloom all season until the cold weather hits, having literally well over a thousand of blooms. The photos are their first year, taken July 12th 2018.
 

Attachments

  • hibiscus 2.jpg
    hibiscus 2.jpg
    189.6 KB · Views: 120
  • hibicus 1 small.jpg
    hibicus 1 small.jpg
    255.4 KB · Views: 158
  • hibiscus 2 small.jpg
    hibiscus 2 small.jpg
    191.3 KB · Views: 124
Joined
Apr 5, 2020
Messages
387
Reaction score
172
Location
Tri Cities, WA (Columbia Basin)
Hardiness Zone
7a
Country
United States
BTW: Looking back at the original posts, there were questions about where hibiscus will grow. It depends on the variety for outdoor plantings, but the hardy types are very hardy and tolerate both very cold and very hot temperatures. Our diner plate hibiscus plants have survived temperatures from 106F or more down to 2F and flourished (41C to -17C). The roots do need daily irrigation in hot weather, but we have never seen them wilt even in full blazing high dessert sun. The red one is now growing to 6ft high by the mid to later season. We just dug out some disappointing "perpetual" lilacs (they weren't) and planted two white ones with red throats in the opposite corner of the yard and they are doing great too. They look like they wil be catching up with the other two in a couple of years - you do need plenty of room for them as they get very big.
 
Joined
Mar 8, 2015
Messages
418
Reaction score
361
Location
Mechanicsville, Maryland
Hardiness Zone
7b
Country
United States
We found this tropical hibiscus while shopping for pond plants. We tried to winter it over inside our basement. It did survive the winter but never bloomed the following year.
001.jpg
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2017
Messages
1,300
Reaction score
1,737
Location
Warrenton North Carolina
Hardiness Zone
7b
Country
United States
68620C6A-A62B-4F74-8491-D2DCD32334BB.jpeg

I live in northern North Carolina and grow Hardy Hibiscus. They die back to the ground every winter and pop up early every spring. The flower is somewhat different from the tropical Hibiscus’s but it still adds some brilliant color to the landscape and attracts a lot of bees.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2020
Messages
387
Reaction score
172
Location
Tri Cities, WA (Columbia Basin)
Hardiness Zone
7a
Country
United States
We have been taking care of the landlords property while they are on vacation, and part of that job, has been to water the flowers and garden. They have an awesome flower garden with roses, cannas, iris, and lots of other beautiful flowers, some of which are now blooming.
The orange hibiscus is so bright, it almost glows, and I just had to take my iPhone along so I could take a picture of it to show everyone here.
Maybe next year, I can have one of these gorgeous plants, I just love the look of it.
Does anyone know how they propagate ? Should I ask the landlady for some seeds, or a start of the plant, or what ? View attachment 693

You should first check to see if it is a variety that has copyrights or patents that legally restrict propagation. They are actually quite easy to obtain if you do an online search and there are now a lot of really exotic beautiful colors. From the photo it's hard to tell how big the flower is. I'm assuming it is a "dinner plate" type, which have flowers from 6 to 10 inches across. If so the plants can get very large and are extremely hardy. We have four. One is a deep crimson burgundy red with flowers up to 10 inches. The stems and leaves of that one also have redish coloring to them. It is now about 5 years old and in our climate in south east WA, it dies back to the ground ever year due to our short but cold winter temps (down to 10F or less occasionally). However, in the summer when it can get into triple digits, it grows to 6 ft height and wide and has literally thousands of blooms from May to the frosts, sometimes into November. It is still getting bigger each year. The other three are a pale blush with deep pink center which is not quite as big and two new last year that are white with dark red center. We are going to get another maybe one similar to that in the photo or more variegated with yellow and purple. I quick internet search will show you lots of them. They are very late starters each year and then take off fast. Do not be tempted to dig them up thinking they have died off, have patience, they are the last things to shoot by a long way.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2020
Messages
387
Reaction score
172
Location
Tri Cities, WA (Columbia Basin)
Hardiness Zone
7a
Country
United States
I wish we could grow hibiscus here, but I'm sure they wouldn't do well. I guess I'll have to make a trip to Hawaii someday!
See my reply to happyflowerlady. There are many types of hibiscus from small to large and tender to hardy. The biggest, most spectacular "dinner plate" ones are extremely hardy, but die back to the ground in cold winters. You have to have a lot of patience and not dig them up thinking they died. It's the most common mistake. Just wait it out and a few weeks after you finally give up it will start sprouting and grow back fast. It's almost unbelievable how they can go from nothing to up to 6ftx6ft and covered in blooms in little over a month. They are also virtually zero maintenance, just cutting off the dead stems in late fall. I don't know if they are evergreen in warmer winter climates, but it they are you would probably need to prune them - they get very big.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
26,589
Messages
256,654
Members
13,263
Latest member
ProNailComplex

Latest Threads

Top