El Capitolio Twins

My latest find. I purchased this two weeks ago at a local nursery for 99c (yes, I mean less than $1.00) I didn't know what it was until the "twins" opened up yesterday. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised yesterday.

pretty!

Very nice surprise for 99 cents!

Hmm, and just where is Midland, GA? For $.99 hibiscus it might be worth a trip. LOL

Beautiful flowers and a nice looking plant too.

This is not typical for this nursery. I don't think they even knew what they had. Their loss is my gain.

And, it grows big quite fast. Mine were 8" high last year. They have now been pruned back, twice, to 5'.

Cat, yours grew to 5' in a pot or was it in the ground? I'm thinking of putting mine in the ground to see how fast it grows (I know I'll have to dig it up in the fall).

Definately the prettiest El Capitalo I've seen! I LOVE the shades of pink against that orange - that's on my gotta get it list this summer!

Mine is in a 20 gallon pot. God forbid we have a hurricane, I can lug everything into the shed (ugh!)

Wow, that's a beautiful picture! And what a steal of a deal, I'm jealous ;-)

Thank you Amarantha. I'm getting ready to put it in the ground. I have heard this that it can grow up to 8ft high. It really was a fabulous find!

What zone are you in C_Squared? Most of the people I've seen around here from GA are in zone 7 or 8 and unless you're in zone 9 I don't think it's going to like your winters. Unless maybe it's hardier than the other tropicals, but Plant Files lists it as zone 9.

I have a red one and I planted it out to my garden last spring. It was about 2 feet tall initally and by the end of the summer it grew to 5 feet! I dug it up to overwinter it as I'm in zone 6 but the summer planting always gives my hibiscus a huge boost so it can survive the long winter in my zone. Definately a booster for me when it's cold and gray outside in the winter! :)

I'm South GA (Zone 8b); however, I do plan to dig it up in the fall. I just want it to grow over the summer.

WOW! 99 cents?! Incredible!!

Technically speaking this variety is "El Capitolio Sport" which is a sport (mutation) of "El Capitolio" which is red (picture attached). The third one, yellow, is "El Capitolio Sporty".

Regards

Carlos

Nice picture Carlos - that's what I have

So beautiful. Do these get really bushy? Or are they more like the Schizo?

Carlos, the red is spectacular. I'll have to be on the look out for the red. Amanda, the nursery didn't know what it was hence the price. There weren't any blooms on it and it was on clearance. My plant is a bushy plant already with a lot of buds. The hope is putting it in the ground will allow it to grow at a much faster rate than when in a pot. I'll just have to dig them up before the first frost.

K thanks! I'll work off that. :)

Amanda - my red one does get bushy when my temps heats up. I plant out and mix some osmocote in the soil and it seems to really love it. Although I'm not planting mine out this year - 5' is as much as I can handle - after last season with about a 3.5' width (at it's narrowest). DH just sighs everytime I pot up and ask him to move them up 2 flights of stairs to my sunniest room over the winter! So to spare his back I don't plant into the garden if it's past 4'. :)

WOW! Well, there's one on eBay that I'm really, REALLY wanting but I may have to wait another week or so to get it, even though the bidding ends today. I just hope that the seller has another one or that they will relist it if it doesn't sell!!