new to growing hibiscus

HI I just moved to Texas and while at walmart today I splurged and bought 2 small hibiscus bushes.
I just love the flowers on them..a friend in Hawaii sends me pictures of the huge flowers over there.
Anyone care to help me get started here with what to do and where to plant them now???

Are they hardy ones or tropical ones? If they're tropical ones you'll have to keep them in a pot and bring them in for the winter. If you're not sure, post a picture of them and someone around here should know what kind they are. Even if they're hardy ones, I imagine it's still pretty hot where you are, so you're probably better off waiting until fall to plant them in the ground, summer planting is very stressful for plants.

Heck if I know for sure lol
the flowers should be a single flower of peachy/yellow color once open.
I picked out two that have several buds with one about ready to open.
I have them on the back porch by the gardenia plant I got the other day
I figured I would plant in cooler weather, but I had to get them as I have no idea how long plants are available in stores in texas

Here is a picture of the flower that bloomed today if that helps with what kind it is.

Hi Mibus, its definitely a tropical hibiscus.This link may help you with a name.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/550160/

That is such a pretty one. Such a delicate apricot with a pink overlay and pink veins. I find ones like that are more hardy than the fancy hibiscus but I think your zone is still too cold for them. If they get enough light and warmth inside, they will bloom for you all winter inside.

Thanks Dave and Kell...my boss says they can be grown outside in the yard I would just have to put like a big clear plastic bag over them for maybe 6 days in the winter and it might "die off" but it would come back since we don't get a freeze that goes down more then maybe 6 inches....that is what he tells me as I have no idea I haven't' been here through an East Texas winter yet.

So he has grown them outside? I only doubt him because I have lost hibiscus here in Zone 9B and we only would get a freak 30 degree frost. Last winter when we had 10 days of real cold to about 27 for a few hours here and there at night during that 10 days, one of mine the same type as yours, did die back to the ground and it has come back. It has been in the ground for a long time though and had big roots. But some in pots left this earth for good.

If you are going to try it, quick get it into the ground so it can grow some deep roots before winter.

On the ID of this plant ... I have to say I think it might not be the Cairo Apricot. The reason I'm saying this is because I have 2 large Cairo Apricots in my front yard, both of which have more apricot-colored veins that are glossy and shine when the sun is on them. These 2 are plants that I bought from the local Houston Garden Center to replace 2 similar-looking peach flowering hibiscus that I'd purchased at our local WalMart in Alvin. And I can tell you, they are 2 very different plants.

The ones I had from Walmart never did really well (they had some white fuzzy cotton-ball looking substance at the rootbase) and the flowers were apricot with pink veins. Not that yours are bad, Mibus2, but mine were. I also noticed that given the right ingredients in the soil, these flowers would sometimes change to a vibrant rich deepred (almost purple). So was it possibly a grafted hibiscus? No telling because I was too novice to know what to look for at the time. But nevertheless, the plant was VERY fragile - moreso than most tropicals.

I think your boss may be thinking of some of the hardy hibiscus varieties, not the tropical ones. I really don't think the tropical ones will survive a zone 7 winter. I had one that died last winter in our cold snap where temps got into the low to mid 20's for a few nights, and I imagine you get down into the teens on occasion, no way a tropical hibiscus will survive that. I've been able to leave them out in normal winters (temps rarely below 30), but they come back very slowly the following year, sometimes just barely getting around to blooming in the fall, but when I keep them in the greenhouse for the winter then they're blooming by March or April, so you get to enjoy them for much longer.

Someone at the CS roundup last April said that they grew their tropicals outside. They said that during the winter they put Christmas lights around them and wrapped them. That they survived. I put two sacrificial plants out and they survived up to the ice storm in Jan. and I think that they'd have survived that if I'd have put the terra cotta pot upside down on them and put the blanket on top of that. But I did nothing to protect them, other than mulch. So I don't know, but I'm in 8b and I think with some planning and proactive care it's possible.

Anne

Funny you should mention Christmas lights. My neighbor has overwintered many different plants by covering them with twinkle lights.....not too much to burn.....just enough to keep them warm. She also heavily mulches and covers with a special fabric made for frost. Sometimes we can find it at HD....sometimes not. Have always been told not to use plastic as it will form ice pellets and just make things worse. I have tropical that I have been dragging back and forth for some 4 years. Put it in the ground this Spring because it is so big. Crossing my fingers that Christmas lights and cotton sheets will be the answer.

The Christmas light things is very interesting! And I bet it's pretty (since I L-O-V-E Christmas lights)! I can tell you that my tropicals were fine outside this year, but here in zone 9 they dropped ALL of their leaves and were COMPLETELY BARE as soon as that big January freeze hit. But 2 weeks later, they were completely full of new leaves and the growth rate this summer has been through the roof so ... ?

The way I feel about it is you can get some tropical hibiscus such as this (red, peach, orange, etc) from your local HD, Lowe's, WalMart, etc., for about $10-$15 when you watch for sales. Sooooo ... you could try it outside and see what it does, right? Then if you do lose it, it's not like loosing a $300 plant. But I definitely would recommend at least putting a warm blanket over them during freezing night temps. And if those last for several months in your zone (I'm clueless) then you might consider bringing them in.

What do you guys think?

sounds like a plan to me.....

Here's the second plant I got it bloomed this morning and it is a double one.

Ooooh yeah - I love those doubles. Don't you just LOVE the reds against the tan colored brick?!?! I DO!!

Your tropicals do not like the temp to go below 40*. You can plant them in the ground but to be on the safe side I would dig up before winter and store in the house or basement.

Your two plants are beautiful, I am afraid you will be hooked now. The two are just a starting point.

I second that!! You'll have 10 or more in another year or two ... :)

If she can hit the half price sales, she will have that many before winter.

Oooooh, good point! It's almost that time - September's just around the corner!! That's when things get marked down around here ... wahoo!

I love to go to my sons late in the summer cause Houston Garden Centers always has nice plants for half price. Always lots of Hibiscus.

Well I love them as I said up above some place a friend online sends me pictures of the ones there in Hawaii and they are huge and so pretty so I am just going to have to start setting money aside from paychecks so I can go shopping on the sales.

Where my son works they had some leftover garden seeds that were going to be tossed so he brought hem home for me so IF I can get the back terrace spots worked up a lil I might be able to plant a few things for fall yet and then figure out what I am going to do with the other packets .....I don't think I need all 10 packets of lima beans not 10 of pumpkins or 10 of collards or over 10 of carrots...*laughs*

be careful,
In February I had 3 hibiscus plants. I now have 68! Thank goodness I have huge back and side yards

I thought I was bad.

Ha ha ha ha ha, CAT!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! Now my hubby can stop saying I have too much!!!!!!!!!!! HA HA HA HA!

I know my hubby looks at me shakes his head, and says you better remember that GH is just sooo big.

Tooooo funny!

It's not when it comes time to put things in the GH. Then I shake my head.

When I moved back with my Dad I just put plastic around the front porch and made it into my own little greenhouse. This year we had a side porch done with an arbor. So we've decided to use that area instead since it faces west rather than north, and is more protected because of the lattice. Most of my hibiscus are on the porch anyway.

AuntAnne does your winters in Texas get that cold?

we have 2.4 acres here so running out of room will not be happening anytime soon It will be getting the plants and listening to hubby about getting so many and figuring out just where to put them all lol

It used to get cold here but not as much in the last few years. We did have an ice storm here last Jan. along with everyone else in Texas. It got down to the lower 20's for a couple of days. We've mostly only had upper 20's for a few hours overnight. Nothing that my little heater in my homemade greenhouse couldn't handle.

Anne

This message was edited Aug 24, 2007 11:28 AM

That's great you have a place to winter your plants without having to go to the expense of buying a GH. They are neat to have but sometimes can get expensive. I have had mine the last two winter, and lucky I haven't really noticed that much difference in the heating bills. But of course at the same time we installed a wood burning stove which has helped out a bunch.