Hibiscus: Hibiscus Acetosella (or is it H. Sabdariffa?), 1 by vossner

vossner wrote:
I wintersowed a few seeds and only one survived. In Feb. 2006 I transplanted the 6" seedling inground, even though I knew it was awfully young. Fast forward to Oct 2006. I stand admiring my 8' tall, 4' wide shrub, amazed at how well it grew with little attention. Then the unthinkable happens: strong winds came thru my area and blew over my hibiscus, causing it to break 6" from the ground. I was devastated. I debated whether I should cut off and clean the mess but a trusted friend discouraged me from doing that. Instead, I just let it lay like groundcover, hoping I would still get some blooms and hopefully some seeds.

The broken shrub is full of blooms, this is one of the first. I am glad I didn't cut & haul it off. I am not totally sure if what I have is h. acetosella or h. sabdariffa. But in any case, I hope to get seeds and grow this beauty every year. BTW, the plant was staked but the winds were so strong that it was badly broken anyway.

This message was edited Nov 18, 2006 11:20 AM