Surprise!

I have 3 offsets on my Amber Suzanne and two have developed buds. Today I saw the first bud open and it was a surprise. Are tropicals grafted? If not, where did this come from?

Tussee

Some tropicals are grafted but not all of them--hopefully one of our hibiscus growers will come along and let you know whether Amber Suzanne typically is or not. The other possibility is that flowers don't always look like they're supposed to, I've had doubles that bloomed as singles and my colors rarely match what the pictures were on the websites that I bought them from so it could be just a weird bloom. But I would have expected some color variation in there rather than just solid pink, so I'm not sure how likely that is. The other possibility is the plant was mislabelled in the first place--has it bloomed for you before? If it has then you can rule that one out obviously.

very pretty

You can usually tell if your hibiscus has been grafted onto rootstock by looking at the main stem near the base of the plant. It sort of looks like two pieces of stem have been joined.

One of mine had an odd shoot from the rootstock and the reason I noticed it was because the leaves were a slightly different shape. You might compare the leaves on all your branches and see if they are identical.

Normally Pride of Hankins is used for rootstock and I think that one is a double. Sadly, there is no picture in Plantfiles of this one. David, Kyle, anybody??? someone needs to post a picture of P of H.

ecrane, the attached photo is the bloom on the mother plant, so she came with the correct name. Being new to Hibiscus, I have a limited history with them so anything out of the ordinary is new to me. :)

Ardesia, I will check the grafting area and compare leaf shapes. Had not thought to do those things.

Tussee

What really disturbs me is my not being able to cut these offsets out, root them, and then give them away. That's a fun part of gardening for me.

Tussee

You could still do that--the flower is pretty even if it's not Amber Suzanne so I'm sure there would be people who'd be happy to have it.

Is the reason you can't cut them off because they are under the soil level? If so, just gently dig around them and sever them from the trunk with a sharp knife. If they are Pride of Hankins they root easily with little effort.

ardesia, my problem is they are not Amber Suzanne.

Tussee

LOL, Gotcha, but what ever they are, they are beautiful and worthy of sharing.

Amber Suzanne however is a newer hybrid and I have found them very difficult to propagate because I do not have the necessary equipment like a mist system.

Tussee, I think your bloom is lovely even if it isn't an Amber. I agree with Ardesia that someone would love to have such a pretty flower!

me, me, me! I don't care what it is, It's pretty!

Cat, you ARE a junkie!!!!! LMAO ;-)

Instead of the bus, I think we all need an intervention program ;-)

Here's another photo of my wildchild fully opened, along with Amber Suzanne. If you want this wildchild, Cat., It's yours.

Tussee

They are both pretty. I love the colors of Amber Susanne.