How do you keep them short...

and still get blooms? I have a couple, but they get so long before they bloom. Is it possible to keep them short and bushy and still blooming? Or is my living in a northern climate dooming me to long stemmed hibiscus?

Hi

Hibiscus are naturally rangy plants. They bloom on new growth so they have to get to a certain size before they will start to produce buds. There are some compact plants that will bloom while the plant is still smaller but for most they need to be bigger. If you prune them to keep them smaller you will constantly be wondering why they aren't blooming. Unfortunately for those who like small compact plants like azaleas hibs will never take their place. Careful of those nice compact plants though because often they have been treated with a growth regulator which in some cases is impossible to grow out of and the plants die after an unnaturally short life.

David

I have been wondering if I cut off each stem after it blooms, would it branch and bloom on the new stems? Then cut when done...etc...???? But I s'pose after a few years it would be pretty gnarly....

Well actually you do want to prune your plant no doubt you get a much nicer looking plant that way and it will bloom more because of it but if you are always trying to keep it short and compact it won't have a chance to bloom. Funny thing about hibs is that they can bloom virtually all year given the right amount of light. Now that I'm looking you are in Ontario Ca. aren't you? So your growing season is pretty short. It takes a couple of months to grow your stems back out again so they bloom on the new wood. Seems to me your best time to prune is when you bring it in for the winter.

Hope that helps.

David

Yes, thank you...actually they are just setting buds when I bring them in for the winter, which is difficult because I always lose a few due to them trying to re-adapt back to the indoor climate. If only I could squeeze another month out of the season, all would be well.