They get big buds ,start to open,but don't then after a couple days turn brown and fall off,this has been going on for a couple weeks,it has never bloomed,and is now about 8 ft tall!
BTW,It's growing in a 5 gallon container planted in the ground.
Don
Need advice,on Confederate Rose
If you don't get any answers here, you might try posting in the Hibiscus forum instead.
The most common cause of bud drop for the rose of sharon is extremes in watering. Going from very dry to wet will cause them to lose their buds. Also over fertilization can cause the same.
Thanks Rylaff,
It's been raining here seems like about every other day,5 inches last weekend,but the buds don't drop off they turn brown,and I fertilized with the slow release kind.
But I agree those are the reason for bud loss on hibiscuses,also I noticed it wasn't leafing out very much this summer,about half the foliage compared to last year,we just haven't had much sunshine,seeems always cloudy.
Are you sure it is a Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis)? They never start blooming around here until the fall and it is way too early to even see buds.
As to the white fly, spread a thick, an inch or more, layer of worm castings under the canopy of the tree. This is expensive but you will never see white flies again.
Here's a pic,I have one beginning to open this morning,and it looks like a double white.
Here's a side shot.
Wow, that sure looks like a H. mutabilis. I have never heard of that one blooming this early. Mine will not even start opening until October. There is an all pink variety that does bloom all summer but it is not a mutabilis. I love DG, I learn something new every day. I didn't know they would be hardy in Kansas either.
Well, mine had a few flowers earlier but not after that and it has growed and growed. I have to keep pruning it back its like a tree. I think i recall it bloomed twice last yr and i will note that on overwatering. Never seen a white one this one have starts out light pink in the morning and by
evening is dark pink. Fran
Why isn't a pink one a mutabilis? What are the distinguishing features?
Here are several sites that are showing pink 'Confederate Roses'.
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&tab=wi&hl=en&q=Hibiscus%20mutabilis
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/74748/
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/01126.html
http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Hibiscus/galleryV.html
http://www.floridata.com/ref/H/hibis_mu.cfm
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/hibiscus.html
See, I told you I learn something new every day here. LOL
Mutabilis means to mutate or change and the old timey southern H. mutabilis starts out white then gradually, over the course of a day, turns pale pink then dark pink.
I guess they have just called all the related cultivars mutabilis whether they change colors or not.
Why is it the botanists are always changing the names of plants for no reason and when there is a good reason, like with these hibiscus, they don't say boo. LOL
This is my mutabilis early in the morning before it has changed.
I'm new to the south and had not heard of a Confederate Rose until I moved here. My neighbors all say, though, that if it doesn't change color, it's not a Confederate Rose. They insist the color changing of the flower is the reason for the name, and that the different colors each have a meaning that involves the Civil War.
I sure want to get a couple of them, and now that I know that plants that don't change colors are sometimes called Confederate Rose by growers I'll be very careful in buying them.
Karen
Karen, you won't need to buy one. Get a cutting from one of those neighbors; they root easily and grow rapidly.
Karen,
I would be happy to send you some of the seed from mine. They
germinate easily also. Fran
Ardesia,it's not hardy here,I overwintered it inside a sunroom,and plant pot and all in the
ground late April Early May.
I didn't get a chance to get a pic,but it did turn dark pink almost a red by dark,hopefully a few other buds will get to open before they fall off !!!
ardesia - The neighbors all knew about the Confederate Rose, but only one was growing it -- go figure. That neighbor managed to kill hers off somehow. So, that's why I was looking for a plant to purchase. The nurseries here don't carry it.
sendone2me - I would love to have some seeds. It would be great to have seeds from a source that I knew had the correct ones. Thanks.
Karen
Ah ha Tropicman, maybe that is why yours bloomed so early.
Ok,when outside to get a pic at ,first light ,hoping to get a shot,before the flower dropped.
