Gram, here are names of Hardy Hibiscus I am growing:

I thought I'd get this info to you right away in case one of your local nurseries has a season's end sale. That's when I bought mine---on sale in August or September of 2005.

The one I think you especially like is "Lady Baltimore." She has green leaves, dark raspberry center, yellow stamens, surrounded by light pink petals.

"Kopper King" has a similar flower, but reddish leaves.

"Fantasia" is an all pink color with yellow stamens and green leaves.

"Turn of the Century" is particularly lovely, I think, because it has petals that are half light pink and half dark pink, with a dark pink, "pin-wheel" center and yellow stamens.

"Lord Baltimore" is an all-red flower with yellow stamens and green leaves.

"Blue River II" is a white one with yellow stamens and green leaves.

"Fireball" is a red one with a dark center, yellow stamens and leaves with "a slight dark purplish cast."

"Plum Crazy," which is my particular favorite, has flowers with a pleated look---they almost look as if they're made of cloth. Color is kind of a purpley plum color, with a dark center and yellow stamens. Leaves are green and maple-cut.

By the way, I think I may have let some of my plants get too long. They can be pruned to various heights. I saw one the other day that was only about 2.5 feet tall, and shaped like a ball. It was absolutely covered with blooms. I think I will get more blooms next year by pruning mine some.

CJ

thanks much, CJ. I'll keep my eye open for sales. One of my neighbors had one that was kind of ball-shaped and about 3' tall, but I thought maybe it was the variety, I didn't know they could be pruned that way. thanks for all the great info.

gram

Gram, I took photos of the tags from all my Hibiscus. Here come two shots. Not sure if one differs from the other, but maybe:

Other one:

Very nice assortment CJ you will have a yard full of beautiful flowers. The older they get the more blooms you will get.

Thank you, 2pugdogs! I first saw hardy hibiscus in the backyard of a friend who lived in Brooklyn, New York. He had a veritable jungle of scarlet ones! They were magnificent, and I never forgot them. I am delighted to now have some growing in my garden! I have been getting very nice compliments from people on them already. Nice thing is that most people around here don't know what they are! So they are amazed by them! LOL!

Yes they are a nice plant to have and the best thing about them is that they are hardy. I have about 15 planted in my yard.

Only thing, 2pugdogs, is that they get messy. I have mine planted against a fence in a bed about 20 feet long X about 3.5 feet wide, and the dropped flowers get all over everything---the fence, the leaves and the ground, of course. The flowers are so huge they really do get messy. But since that is the only problem, I can sure put up with it!

While I am out watering which is about 2 to 3 times a day, I usually pick all the old flower blooms off all my hibiscus, tropical and hardy, it is kind of a routine I do. I count all the ones I remove off each plant that way I know how many blooms they have had. Especially off my tropical trees and bushes. My biggest tree had 29 blooms yesterday. It is just a habit I have gotten into.

2pugdogs - good habit!! I need to work on doing the same, especially deadheading the roses. I hate thorns.

Judy

Hi, 2pugdogs. I have 4 potted hibiscus and those dozen or so planted against the fence, as well as quite a few roses, and dead-heading them all turns into quite a chore. So I will just have to put up with some mess with the hibiscus. It's worth it! ;0)

The "mess" is truly worth seeing the blooms though. My hardy one has just started a second flush of blooms and there were as many as 3-4 on one stem.

Yep, I agree, bugme! I am looking forward to next year, when I will prune my hardy hibiscus so as to make them more bushy and get more flowers! They have done wonderfully this year---the first full season after I planted them from 1/2 gallon containers last fall!

If I prune only half of the plant, will it prolong the blooms? I am trying to find a way to get more than 3 weeks of 'lots' of blooms. Marie

I don't know about the pruning because I've never pruned it to shape it. All I do is cut off the dead limbs in winter after it dies down..........mine seems to shape itself into a round mass about 3' diameter and tall.

MyRee,

I have found, personally, that tropical Hibiscus put out more blooms if I fertilize them with a high middle number fertilizer, such as Blossom Boost or other, similarly numbered product, something like a 9-59-9 or similar. In fact, I think next year I will try mixing into the top couple inches of soil straihght Super Phosphate, plain phosphorus with no nitrogen and no potash. The tropicals also love plenty of water. Of course, they are in pots, and they need frequent watering.

I am not sure whether Hardy Hibiscus will respond similarly if given lots of phosphorus. I am certainly not sure about lots of watering, because I had several of my hardy hibiscus branches die this year, seemingly from a fungus, possibly brought on by too much watering.

In my case, because of the fungus problem I had, I think the safest thing to do would be to scratch into the top couple of inches of soil around the base of each plant some granulated super phosphate. The phosphate, even if it did no good with regard to increasing blooms, would do no harm to the plants.

The plant I saw that was ball-shaped and about 2.5 to 3 ft high, was covered in blooms.

Certainly I know that my tropical hibiscus do very noticeably differently with regard to how many blooms they put out if I fertilize them or not. Actually, I give my tropicals a dilute dose of a 9-59-9, or something similar, each time I water. I also have them in as much sun as possible.

I have seen people buy Hibiscus and put them in a fairly shady spot. They don't like that at all, of course, and get very stingy with their blooms.

Carol how long have you been feeding your tropicals with such a high dose of the middle number. I know everything I have ever read on the feeding of hibiscus they tell you to never use a fertilizer with a high middle number. You also never want to use a Blossom Boost. But if you have been doing it with good results who am I to say not to do it.

http://www.trop-hibiscus.com/index.html

Go to this site and on the left hand side click on Fertilize and then you can read up on it.

But if what you have been doing is working for you then keep on doing it.

Linda

Great link, 2Pugdogs! Thanks for it! I guess this is a case of my not knowing something and doing it and finding that it works.

Build-up of phosphorus in the soil...

I don't quite understand that because the pots I have them in I expect would not allow build-up because water and fertilizer would regularly wash through and out of the pot. I have been using dilute blossom boost for years on my hibiscus with excellent results. All of them are potted, of course, because of the zone I'm in.

This year, I did not get very good flowering at all on my potted hibiscus bushes, but the potted standards have done fine.

HOWEVER, the bushes look absolutely WONDERFUL. Gorgerous green leaves with scarcely a yellow leaf to be seen. What I have generally had in the past has been lots of blooms and some yellowing leaves, and I would just pick off the dead blooms and the yellow leaves and things would go great.

When I lived at a condo that had a swimming pool, I put 6 large pots of gorgeous pink Hibiscus around the pool, and watered them daily with dilute high middle number fertilizer. They did WONDERFULLY. They were GORGEOUS. They did fine for several years---would take them in in the winter and put them in a huge sunny window, where they'd continue to bloom till it was time to take them outside again.

So, it works for me... ???