Hibiscus: ID please!?, 1 by Michael_Ronayne

Michael_Ronayne wrote:
Sandi,

I was afraid that was going to be your answer. I saw exactly the same bloom time behavior with my H. mutabilis Alma’s Star and the doubles and it was not nearly that hot in New Jersey. Small buds started appearing in late September. The three H. mutabilis doubles quickly gave up and the small buds dropped off but the Alma’s Star is still trying as of this morning (see attached picture). Some of the buds are actually showing color at the tips. I should have done my homework about the blooming times for H. mutabilis. From all the posts about how beautiful the flowers were I assumed that H. mutabilis was a summer bloomer when in fact it is a fall bloomer. No excuses, the DG PlantFiles clearly states “Late Summer/Early Fall” for the Bloom Time, while I was fixated on growing the plant in Zone 6b. H. mutabilis is clearly a longer night bloomer or prefers a day/night cycle of equal lengths.

I posted a picture of the plant tag for H. mutabilis Alma’s Star here:
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2009/10/25/Michael_Ronayne/...
The grower states that Alma’s Star can survive into Zone 6, which I am assuming is with protection; not that I believe the growers in all cases. If the H. mutabilis makes it through the winter and I keep the whiteflies at bay during the summer (which I can now do) and have a mild fall in 2011, I just may be able to get some flowers next fall which set seeds. My problem will be that the bloom times for some of the H. moscheutos hybrids I was thinking of crossing with H. mutabilis just overlap, so I will have a very small window of opportunity and no second chances.

I ran into the same problem with H. grandiflorus but was able to obtain hybrid seeds which are now growing. DG PlantFiles is all over the place on the bloom times for H. grandiflorus and depending on location all of the feedback may be correct.

As they say in Baseball; “wait until next year”!

Mike