Worth waiting for Cotton Candy

Cotton Candy was the only liner I purchased from the tropical liner coop last year that did not bloom it's first year.It certainly was worth the wait.

I love the soft pretty colors, and ruffles too!

Oh Nancy, that's a beauty. My cuttings are still hanging in there and looking good too. :-)))))

lovely indeed

That is georgious, I could kick myself for not getting in that co-op last year.

Maybe they'll do another this year.


kathy

I love it too.

All my tropical hibiscus are in the house now.We had some very cold weather last week.Every time I pass by Cotton Candy it's a thrill.The flower is even more beautiful than in the picture and there is another big bud that will open soon.My family think I'm crazy just spending time starring at that flower.

Nancy,
Gorgeous colors, I'd stare at it, too.
I found Hibiscus a little late in the season. I can't wait for a coop. I'll jump right in there. What price did the liners sell for that the coop had? Thanks

Crystal

We live in Houston which is 8b also but we put (for the most part) our hibiscus in the ground. Do you just prefer to have yours in pots? I don't do much mulching because I have so many things that self-seed and I don't want to cover those seeds up because they - like weeds - won't come up. I'm just curious.....:>))

Ann

Here along the SC coast, although our temperatures are moderate, our winters are a bit damper than they would be in Houston. Hibiscus do not like the cool, wet soil. I live a bit south of Downscale and I can leave mine out in containers as long as they stay on the dry side.

For some reason I always bring them in whenever the temps go below 40.I don't remember where I got that notion.They do very well in the house if you keep them dry.Mine still have lots of buds and the flowers last longer for me indoors.We don't heat alot so the house is about 60-65 degrees.

The coop was in the spring summer? of 2005 and the prices were very low.When we lived in S.Florida I resisted the Tropical Hibiscus because I was "into"so many other tropical plants and I didn't need another addiction but now there are no Orchids etc.and the coop offer was so wonderful-------I have a small house so I have to limit the # of plants I bring in.

ardesia, people in Houston would love to be told we are not damp and humid. I guess along the coast there you are a little damper than we are here but surely not much. We have our rainy season and then there's our monsoon season......


Ann

Ann,
I used to not mulch for that same reason- self seed. My garden probably would grow for a hundred years just on that alone. I decided that I was going to mulch anyway last year in Jan. I am happy to report, that it didn't stop the seeds one bit from finding their way out. I also have created dry zones in the garden- areas next to the house that will stay dry- that is where I have bougainvilla, beaumontia grandiflora, coconut tree and tequila sunrise hibiscus along with some hawaiin varities and a few papaya trees. It works pretty good! This was the first year I tried the dry and wet zones of the garden beds. I have in the back yard the store variety of those philodendrums that are popular in the offices. The leaves are as big as dinner plates and it's all over the back fences. (dry zone).
Now if I could only find my white hibiscus instead of that okra one! lol.

The cotton candy is excellent! Now why couldn't my wrong seeds turn out to be that...ha!

No chance for dry vs wet zones. Sprinkler system. It was here when we moved in and regardless of what DDH said nothing is going to change.(I did get new appliances in the kitchen after the dishes didn't get clean in the DW and the food wasn't cooking right w/the range we had and he could always smell gas.) But the yard does not affect him or his well being so....... The people here before me evidently planted some Christmas and Easter bulbs from plants they rec'd because last year for the first time they appeared after I had dug the bed. What we have here is CLAY CLAY CLAY and they didn't try to amend it. They just stuck plants in somehow and then covered w/an awful lot of mulch - so much mulch you couldn't expect a seed to ever find its way to the CLAY (which, btw, is very rich). I have been amending it little by little taking up some of their plants (most of them) I don't like and replacing them w/ones I do. Now I have my cosmos reseeding, the ruella multiplying, and I was able to sow alyssum and dianthus by scattering the seed and then some top soil on top of that and I have some nasturtium seeds and others to go in as soon as I get to it and can dig a bit. So watering helps to get the soil so I can at least sink a spading fork in a couple of inches - less like concrete. Thank goodness it's real clay and not gumbo - concrete like when dry and swamplike when it's wet. Have a good meal from that okra, speaking of gumbo. When we raised okra during WWII I always liked the flowers better than the "fruit". They remind me so much of altheas, another kin.
Thanks, anyway, for the input. I doubt I'll ever get to the point where I'll need much mulch.

Ann

LOL...I would be out there plugging up some of the sprinkler heads...
I know what you mean by the clay. That is what I started with last year. Even though I have lived at the house for 8 years, I was finally that lucky person that always seemed to be someone else, and purchased the house. I was not allowed to do anything to the front before, and come January 1st, my wheel barrow, shovel and what not was out there in our brisk 85 degrees. I thought taking the first week of january off would guarantee some cool weather. I had to stop in the middle of the week when temps were near 90F. I built up the flower beds, read alot on the soil forums..learned alot- and took no prisoners the first time around. I was taking everyones bagged leaves all of january and dumped them on the beds. It went from wormless clay to thriving botany. The only problem is every thing turned out enormous, even the zinnias were 5 and 6 foot.
I documented the process...for some amusing entertainment
http://davesgarden.com/journal/ed/
scroll all of the way down to start at the beginning

So the hibiscus are all part of the okra family?

Nancy, did you grow that from seed? The hibiscus here get so big, I wonder how to get lots of flowers but not so bushy.

This message was edited Nov 9, 2006 5:41 PM

This message was edited Nov 9, 2006 5:41 PM