Hibiscus Photos Sept 27 2008

Hibiscus Tigerama

Well, I give up. Im just going to have to get every single one. At least with my daylily addiction, I could get picky. Some I like, but a lot I didnt like, so it was easy to look at pics and say...yes...no...no...no....YES....no.....no.....

But these hibiscus? they are all YES!!!

Oh oh oh oh!!!!! I think I can take a picture of one today! BRB....

I know what you mean about Daylilies Fla Chick. I go no no no no no no yes no no no no yes. I tend to gravitate toward Daylilies with larger sized blooms. Here are a couple pictures I took this past spring in the backyard of two larger bloom sized daylilies starting with Daylily "Pure & Simple".

And lastly Daylily "Forgotten Dreams".

Well, I grabbed my camera and went outside...I have a lovely yellow hibiscus that I got from Lowes last year that is blooming...simple bloom, but very pretty. As soon as I stepped outside, I saw some weeds that I must have missed...bent over to pluck them out. As soon as I did, I heard my chickens ba-GAWKing...that means an egg! So I set my camera down, went out to the coop, gathered some really lovely eggs. Decided to sit a spell with my chickies. After watching "chicken TV" for a bit, I left the coop, and decided while I was out, I might as well feed the horses. So I put the eggs down, and fed the horses. Then the puppies started playing, so I took them for a walk in my 5 acre field next door. The sun started settling, so we went back home, I picked up the camera from the back porch, then came inside. THEN I realized that 3 hours ago, I was going to take pictures of that yellow hibiscus....sigh.....and the eggs are still outside.

Maybe tomorrow.

Lovely daylilies, amorecuore! I had Pure and Simple, it was always just perfection. In fact, I could get that one again....I wonder what happened to it?

Too funny Fla Chick. We all do those "getting sidetracked" things. My favorite is when I can't remember what I actually went outside to do in the first place. I'll run around in circles like a confused chicken and then dart back inside........without laying a "golden egg"!!!

A photo from this morning (Oct 13 2008) after the showers subsided. It's Hibiscus "Mis Behavin" accompanied by Reblooming Bearded Iris "Autumn Tryst".

Wanted to share, "H. Courting Trouble."

So I do have a few hibiscus plants! Nothing as exotic as all of you have, but nice enough to spur my interest.

And another...

Ooh they're nice ones Fla Chick. I saw the first one you posted at Lowes down here a week or so ago. The flower color really caught my attention and I like the fact that the plants were very compact, very full and looked liked they probably bloom like crazy. Very good choices.

More gorgeous pictures, Amore! Love the daylily pics too. I am also a daylily nut. Ok, well, here it is - I'm just a plant addict all around ;-)

Yes, that pink was from Lowes. And here I was going to tell you that I got it from some exotic location. Shoot, Ive been outed. Oh well. I check Lowes periodically, but they usually only have some plain yellow and red, and a few doubles. I was surprised to see this pretty one. It looks like Im just starting to get some buds from the ones I ordered last month online. Ill probably keel over and croak the first time one of them blooms!

Im working on digging up an old overgrown thorny rose this weekend, its a perfect spot for one or two hibiscus.

I know what you mean amarantha about being a plant addict. I'll try to grow just about anything that looks attractive in the backyard in a screened in area. Usually I'll have more failures or I don't like the way it looks. Even though the successes are in the minority its still well worth it.
Theres nothing wrong with buying plants at Lowes or Home Depot Fla Chick. I just get frustrated because most of the retailers down here in South Florida carry the exact same things for the mostpart. It seems that if you want something different you have to either order it online or grow it yourself. Sometimes I think maybe its better that way because it gives you a chance to have a unique look when you grow it yourself. It does seem that the best days to go looking at Lowes or Home Depot are Wednesdays and Thursdays. Thats when they seem to get new inventory and it gives you a better chance to find something new and/or different.

Amorecuore, after reading all of you enablers posts, Im afraid Ive moved well past Lowes and Home Depot. All of these pictures just make me lust for more exotic colors. Not that I dont check out HD and Lowes when I stop there, but Ive pretty much decided that if I want hibiscus like all of these pictures, I will have to shop online, which is actually fine by me since HD and Lowes are about 20 miles away.

When driving home from work yesterday, a lady down the road had a few plants out by the road for sale, and one really caught my eye. I drove by it again, and then again. I went home, grabbed a few dollars, and stopped by her house. I asked her what that beautiful plant was, that I just had to have it. Well, its a form of hibiscus called a Confederate Rose. Its just beautiful. And an added bonus in that in its pot was a couple of milkweed plants, which I desparately needed since these monarch cats are decimating my milkweeds.

So it was all good. More plants.....

Thats true Fla Chick. The hybrid Hibiscus are pretty much an online purchase. I have seen a few of them at Home Depot down here, but only 3 times in the past 2 years. Make sure you give that Confederate Rose lots of space. It can grow as big as 15 feet high and 10 feet wide over the years. One of the appealing thing about the blooms are that they change colors over a several day period, so its typical to see 3 different colors of blooms all at the same time on one plant.

thanks, amorecuore, thats what I sort of figured after reading about it online. Im tearing down a clump of bananas in my front garden thats taking over, so much so that I cant see out my window anymore. Figured thats a good place to put it; it can't get any bigger than that clump of nanners, and it isnt as solid, so Ill be able to see thru it. I will put it such that it will shade a bird bath that I have, and give the birdies a place to hang out and shake off after their daily ritual.

Hines Horticulture grows and distributes many of the fancier hybrids developed by Barry Schlueter. http://www.barryschlueter.com/

Sadly, although Hines sells lots of other plants to the local big boxes they do not sell their hibiscus in FL or other southeastern states. I think their trade name is Bahama Bay. I can't get them here in SC either. They are distributed in other parts of the country. It doesn't make sense to me.

I haven't found Dupont's hybrids around SC either.

Thank goodness for the online retailers.

I agree ardesia. Luckily we have online choices and that extra effort we make to find/buy them gives us a unique look on the outside of the house. Many neighbors have asked me where I buy my plants and they kind of frown when I tell them I bought them online or that I grew them myself. I guess they just don't want to go through the effort. Believe it or not I've even had 3 nurseries stop by while I was outside in the yard asking me about some plants as to what they are/where I bought them and/or information on how to grow them. The one time I did see quite a few different hybrid Hibiscus for sale at Home Depot here in Plantation/Sunrise, FL was about a year ago and I did notice almost all the cultivators where varieties that were developed in Florida and a couple from The Bahamas.

Looks like I need to find another spot for my Confederate Rose. I decided to keep my bananas out front. I took some monstrous clippers and started cutting down the bent and brown and yucky limbs, and lo and behold, Ive got a really pretty banana clump now. I cut off all the brown branches and the ones bent over, since they will soon be brown. I cut off a lot of the babies, and just let 5 main stalks. It looks so much better, and now I can see out front to my front pasture. So I guess the banana got a reprieve...amazing what a hair cut can do, this banana plant cleaned up really nice! So I need to find another primo spot for the Confederate Rose. I have a feeling once Ive lived here another 10 years, its going to look like a jungle from the road. Ill be looking for monkeys to start swinging from the trees.

CR's get really big; I would reserve a 10' x 10' spot for it, minimum.

Thanks, Ill definitely give it a lot of elbow room.

I'm glad you decided to keep the banana tree Fla Chick. I'm really not into bananas but if I was I would have a banana tree. I love the way they look with those huge leaves. They're very attractive trees.

Hi Jon,

You have an absolutely beautiful garden. It's good to see you here sharing with us.

Take Care,
Robert

Thanks for the kind words Robert. Glad to hear you're making progress getting things back to normal. It's a good feeling when we see things slowly getting back to they way we want them after hurricanes. The cooler weather also helps us to keep motivated and gives us some extra energy to keep going and growing.

Jon

love, love, love your neon nova. Unfortunately, that is one that died last month, and it never got to bloom :(

Thanks cat4gp and sorry to hear about your Neon Nova). It sure is a bright colored bloom and the most recent blooms have been 2 day bloomers due to slightly cooler temperatures now.