Hibiscus: Wake-up And Smell The Hardy Hibiscus, 1 by Michael_Ronayne

Michael_Ronayne wrote:
I am happy to report that Hibiscus grandiflorus has a deistically musky fragrance but it is not a small which most people would find interesting. My Hibiscus grandiflorus began blooming the second week in August and it was not uncommon that plant, which stands over 7 feet tall with four thick stems, produced 8 to 10 new flowers every night as long as the temperatures remained high. The flower buds would not open until sunset, at which time the musky fragrance was most noticeable. During the night the H. grandiflorus flower is opened wide. By morning the flowers has partially closed to the trumpet configuration we see during the day. The attached photograph was taken at night using a flash; the flower is pinker then the picture would indicate.

I now understand why no one is breeding hardy Hibiscus for fragrance; there would be no commercial market except for people who are interested in attracting insects and hummingbirds to their garden. Insects are another story, by the end of August there was a small black fly, which superficially resembles a small fruit fly with black eyes. It was not uncommon to find these flies swarming over the flower by day and night, until the weather turned cooler at which time they disappeared. Several forms of bees and wasps also found H. grandiflorus highly attractive. My usual New Jersey nemesis Althaeus hibisci (AKA Hibiscus Beetle) which loves H. moscheutos, ignored H. grandiflorus completely.

I was not able to detect any fragrance in Hibiscus Moy Grande. A friend who is also growing both H. grandiflorus and Moy Grande, informed me that he detected a similar but slight fragrance in Moy Grande but you have to smell it just as the flower opens. I will revisit Moy Grande next year. The problem could also be my aging sniffer!

I am working on a number of H. grandiflorus hybrids including a backcross to Moy Grande using Moy Grande pollen. I am looking forward to the results of these crosses, assuming that any are successful.

Mike