Thought I posted this on plant id but can't find it. It is a volunteer among my shampoo gingers. Straight as an arrow, so far about 36", one leaf about every 4", 5 points on each leaf. Weed or keeper?
Id help
it is a sweet gum?
Went to plant files and it sure looks like "liquidambar styraciflua" sweet gum. The gingers came from Onalee"s just this past spring. Could it be possible that the seed was in the dirt on the tubers? Noticed today that there is another seedling near by this one. This is not a good place to plant but will just wait until fall to see what happens. Thank you, Mitch.
Maybe pot-up the little seedling to share. Would you like it, Mitch.
Christi Lou
Would love it, I just looks like the little guy we have waiting on the school garden right now. Would love to have one here too :-) Thanks Mitch
LouC it could be this guy, http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/89890/
Sweet Hibiscus, Edible Hibiscus, Palmate-leaved Hibiscus
Abelmoschus manihot
The foliage looks a lot like what you have.
Josephine.
That would be a nice suprise.
Here is another picture. It certainly would be a nice surprise. Only thing I can thing of is that whatever it is....it tagged along with the ginger from Onalee.
it surely looks like my Golden Hibiscus, we shall wait and see.
Will take very good care of it in the meantime. Tkx guys.
I've said it before and it can be said again and again. Josephine is a plant genius. After thinking about it last night I began to look through my pictures of 2005. Sure enough....there it is. A beautiful hibiscus. It bloomed only one flower. Died down that winter and was never seen again......until this week. Guess all the rain has stirred roots that were very, very dormant.
Now, Jo, do I leave it in ground this winter with lots of mulch or should I pot it and bring it in? Also have another hibiscus that has grown quite large and am having the guys plant it in ground today. Brought it in the last two winters. Is there a way to tell if it is tropical or hardy? My mother passed away in March, 1994 and many of these plants I inherited and did not have the good sense to ask her so many things.
That should have been March, 2004. As you can see I'm getting worse all the time.
This message was edited Jul 20, 2007 5:16 PM
Lou - that is stunning, very nice and I hope that is it.
Mitch, Didn't mean to sound like Josephine is the "only one" with great knowledge. Sometimes (often) I don't say things like I mean it. You, too, are a great source of information.
Lou - you have no idea, I dmail Josephine for all most everything I know about Texas gardening. She and my grandmother have taught me almost everything I know.
Hello Lou and Mitch, thank you both for you vote of confidence, but I maybe wrong anyway.
Lou, I think the Hibiscus in your picture is a Texas native, I have one just like it.
Hibiscus moschuetos sp. lasiocarpus;
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/159115/
This one is a perennial and it is hardy in our zone. The tropical hibiscus is usually not hardy, the leaves of tropical hibiscus are, fatter, or thicker than than the hardy hibiscus.
The Golden Hibiscus is a relative of Okra, and it originated in Africa, it is root hardy here.
A friend of my gave it to me and she passed away, so it is very special to me because of that.
Your plant in question may still turn out to be Sweetgum, we shall see, it will be fun to find out.
Josephine.
... my .02 ... I have that maple looking thing coming up also ... and underneath it ... that variegated thing is a weed too. It runs all over the place ... thank goodness its easy to pull up ... it do have little pretty blue flowers too... but Smockette made me pull mine up. lol
Finally bloomed this morning. Jo, you were right on. It is the sweet hibiscus. I will be more careful to mulch this winter so I don't loose it again. The shampoo ginger next to it has a bloom about halfway ready as well. All this right outside my desk window. Thank you for your help, Mitch. Sure glad I didn't pull it up as a weed.
LouC
Oh Wow! that is so pretty, I love the Golden Hibiscus, that is wonderful and so lucky for you. Be sure to save the seed.
Thank you for letting me know, that is very sweet of you.
Josephine.
Oh my, apparently I was looking at the wrong thing. :(
Oh, you know what, Sylvia, I'll bet you have what I do. They look a lot like Lou's photo, but they aren't hibiscus. If you leave them alone, they get woody stems and turn into little trees and are impossible to get rid of. I've never seen one bloom.
My neighbor has a silver maple hanging across the alley, near all of mine. I'm wondering if that's what it is.
Oh I would love Silver Leaf Maple, I just ordered two.Mitch told me what that was and I forgot.
Sylvia - post a photo on here and I am sure we can get you the name of it.. You had mulberry, some oak, and some elm from what I remember... oh and some holly . . thinking hard.
Hey Lou! Gorgeous bloom you got there! The rain we got this year must have had some magic in it. I planted a daylily in the spring of 2005 and lost it that summer, or so I thought. Since then, I had totally forgotten about it and put a stepping stone where it used to be. Well, one day this spring I noticed a cluster of leaves sticking out from the side of the stone. I raised the stone and there was the daylily laid over about 6in with that green tuft on the end.
OT- Does anyonelse find okra blooms to be as stunning as I do?
Yes, I think they are beautiful, as a matter of fact the hibiscus the Louc has is related to okra, but it is not okra, it is tender perennial and the pods are small and tough. The flowers are larger, and I hear that the leaves are edible, but I have never tried them. Here is a link to the plant files;
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1888/
Josephine.
I think I am going to stay quiet on this thread, because I still dont see anyhting blooming in that pic. lol I hav embarresed myself enough. LOL
Sylvia here is the post with the flower;
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=3842057
Sylvia, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Started out asking what the plant was.......some speculation that it was a sweet gum.....waited awhile and it finally bloomed. So Jo was able to id it as a hibiscus. It's bloom looks just like okra and now it has short little pods on it that resemble okra....not eatable. I am waiting now for the pods to dry. You take care. These forums have a way of wandering around and sometimes I go back to the beginning to see what it is about.
Gonna be a great day.
LouC
LouC I am just upset with myself because I could not distingused which plant you were talking about in the your first picture. I saw the Ginger, the Ivy, the Ipomoea, the variagated runner and the Maple leaf looking plant. Is that the Hibiscus before it bloomed?
Went back and looked at that picture. You're right. It is very difficult to tell just where the leaves are that I was asking about. In the background is shampoo ginger, variegated ginger, english ivy, and sweet potato vine. Hard to pick out the front plant. The 4th picture down is when it finally bloomed and we got a positive id. Of course, you know all the correct names and I'm still calling them the common names. One of these days you will have to give me some lessons.....I sure need them.
Yes that the plant I saw at Josephines. Its an awsome flower, I would love to see that Okra pod. LouC when you plant the seeds dont forget who your friends are. LOL