What is the best mail order source for Cajun Hibiscus?

I really love hibiscus and have about 10 varieties planted in ground, but plan to expand into Cajuns next season....I thought about driving to La to Dupont to buy the Cajuns in person, but it is a LONG drive..just wondering if any of you found a great place to buy MO, with good selection and prices. Also is there anyplace as of yet that offers Cajun Hibs seeds? Thanks, Karen

Dupont does mail order so that would be the first place to check. I think www.atouchofthetropics.net also carries some of the Cajuns. There's a decent chance this time of year that both of them sold out of a lot of varieties but keep an eye out to see if they get things back in stock.

As far as seeds--the tropical hibiscus cultivars won't come true from seed, so you won't find seeds for the Cajuns. There are some places that you can get seeds for tropical hibiscus, but any place that tells you it's a seed that will grow into a particular named variety is either misinformed or a scam artist (there are several scammers on Ebay selling seeds for tropical hibiscus that aren't real in the first place because they photoshopped the pictures, and even if they were real they wouldn't come true from seed). So look for people that tell you the names of the hibiscus parents that were crossed to creat the seeds and don't make guarantees about what the babies will look like. It can be a fun experiment to grow some of them and see what you end up with, but you can't predict in advance what you'll get.

Karen, www.hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com also sells some of the DuPonts plants. Another source that I just purchased from for the first time, is www.bigbadflower.com. He sells them as little plugs, very inexpensively. I was very pleased with the customer service there, and also the health of plants, despite their extremely small size.

Good luck!!

Thank you so much for the advice, links and tips! I really like the price on the big bad flower site, how reasonable! I wouldn't care if they are small as long as they are good and healthy! Great prices! All of my hibs are in ground here in 8a....we do have a winter, but a VERY mild one....NEVER snow, usually only 1-2 nights a year hovering at freezing or a little below. I wonder if I could plant Cajuns in ground here? Gosh I love them, but I sure hate overwintering things...I already have an extensive giant Alocasia collection I over winter as well as other things.....

You might check www.hibiscusplace.com too. I don't know if he carries Cajuns specifically, but Cajuns aren't the only pretty tropical hibiscus out there!

As far as planting in the ground--I'd be prepared with blankets or something to cover them with on cold nights. If you're really in 8a, you will get some winters with weather cold enough to kill them or seriously damage them so definitely have a plan for freezing weather. The other thing to watch out for--I don't know if you've had them over a winter already, but if the weather gets cold enough that they drop their leaves it can take them forever to wake back up in the spring. I keep mine in a greenhouse for that reason--my winters won't typically kill them, but it gets cold enough that they lose their leaves and then it's late summer before I see any blooms. But if I overwinter them in the GH some of them will keep blooming during the winter, and they're ready to go as soon as spring rolls around so I can enjoy blooms for much of the year.

Karen, I am finding the Cajun Hibiscus at Home Depot. Also finding some of the Bahama Bay series that are hybrids from Barry Schlueter. In fact, today I found "Goin' Steady". Just couldn't resist it. Barry said to tell the garden center manager that you were interested in the Bahama Bay series & if they said they couldn't get them to watch their nose grow. I asked & they got this one. I'm calling & asking to talk to the manager & telling them I can buy from them or go to Dallas where I know they have them. Hope this helps.

Hugs,
Judy

I heard someone else say that they found the Cajuns at Home Depot in other states. Just not California, I guess. The Bahama Bay series is carried at a number of good nurseries in our area :-)

Armstrong Gardens, which I believe is just a California nursery chain, also carries what they have branded "hotbiscus" - they are really the tropical hibiscus creations of Charles Black (Hidden Valley Hibiscus), and since he also grows some of the more common Cajuns, they get them in stock during the summer sometimes too.

I should also say that I noticed Robert has restocked a bit, and he carries the Cajuns. His store is is www.atouchofthetropics.com. ECrane is right though, there are tons of beautiful hibiscus, certainly not all of which are Cajuns.

Here's a pretty one from Cajun country that bloomed today.

Bayou Rose.

This message was edited Jun 12, 2010 12:28 AM

Never having grown a hibiscus, though tempted, I am a fan of Logee's Greenhouse, and they are having a sale on hibiscus this week.

Logees, although priced a bit high, always sends super healthy plants :-)

I know! It is one of my favorite places to visit!
http://s333.photobucket.com/albums/m370/fleebeesmom/Logees%20Greenhouse/

I love Logee's even if just to go there for a visit. I call it a tropical oasis! I have been there 3 times this month!