new to hibiscus. Who do you recommend to buy from (online)

I'm looking to try a couple of tropical hibiscus. I'm not sure where I can get the best size healthiest plant for the best price. I appreciate any suggestions.

It will be grown in a pot since I'm in z6/7. thanks

I get most of mine from www.hibiscusplace.com www.hypnoticblooms.net and www.hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com I've had good luck with plants from all three places. But beware...you'll get hooked and need a ton of them before you realize it!

I should add that www.logees.com has been getting in more and more hibiscus in recent years--their plants are smaller than what you'll get at the other places but they may have some different varieties. If you're looking for something that'll bloom the first year you're probably better off looking for a larger gallon size plant from one of the other vendors, but if you're better than I am in the patience department then Logee's would work too, or the 4" pots from the other places (some of the small ones have bloomed for me the first year, but it's not guaranteed)

Thank you ecrane3. I think I will go with Hibiscus place as their 6" are unde 20.00.

Now I'm trying to find out from them what they can recommend that blooms alot.

June's Dragon and Lost Treasure that I got from them last year are constant bloomers for me!

Thanks so much ultimateshopper (love that name!!)

edited to say:
I don't see June's Dragon or Lost treasure on their site?

This message was edited Feb 4, 2009 6:00 PM

Hibiscus Place has a lot of new varities and I wish I could help here. You could probably get your list together of what you like and email them. Matt is very knowlegable and would probably help and maybe even suggest certain cultivars for you. Some are eaiser than others to grow. I do know Gator Magic has done well for me, Area 51 is a good upright and a good bloomer, Blue Bayou is a good one, fifth dimension is a good one, Firehouse as well, Time for Magic and Whirlygig are good as well. I know there are more but it may be a start for you. Also, I can tell you is the most stubborn hibbie I've ever grown is the Black Dragon. I would suggest getting a few under your belt before you tackle this one. It is very tempermental and I lost 4 before I could do it right.

you might want to try triedandtruehibiscus.com They have a good selection and their pricing is very reasonable. We have alway received good quality hibiscus from them.

Hi Stplong,

I agree with you. I've gotten some nice plants from them as well. The rootstock they use is huge and healthy.

Robert

This message was edited Feb 4, 2009 6:51 PM

For my 2 cents worth I like:
http://www.atouchofthetropics.net/index.html

I've also had good luck with slips from:
http://www.exotichibiscus.com/

Someone gave me a gift card from them (Exotic Hibiscus) Christmas 2007. Don't know how he found them--I suspect he just googled hibiscus because I said I wanted more of them. I would not normally recommend slips unless you have some experience with them. They kinda require extra attention until they get larger. They had a pretty unique method of packing slips for shipment so they made it real well.

Debbie

Robert, I have to agree with you on Black Dragon. But, what a color and it was always in bloom, even while it was dying. LOL


This message was edited Feb 4, 2009 8:10 PM

LOL your right ardesia. Mine survived Ike and was beautiful. It's in a 15 gallon pot and huge. Well, Then we have a FREAK snow that dropped 5" here overnight. I did not bother to move it because I was just thinking how many times do they say it will snow and never does. This is southeast texas. Hindsight is 20/20 It's still alive and kicking with frostbite LOL

Maureen, I agree with the suggested vendors from ecrane. Any one of those is a safe bet, and they all have terrific customer service. I'm sure any one of them would also help you to choose a good bloomer. For me, Time for Magic has always been my most difficult cultivar, but looks like it's going to live this time until spring - even healthy as can be, it's a very fussy bloomer for me. On the other hand, although I do know others that have had problems with Black Dragon, it's always been fine for me, and a great bloomer - until this year. Mine was (is?), like Robert's, quite large and one of my original (and still) favorite plants. But after its second winter move in two years, it's looking questionable. Same with my Magnifique :-(

Probably all in all years considered, Voodoo Queen, Rum Runner and Cinnamon Girl are my most "constant" bloomers.

I do have a plan this year though - I'm buying new ones of both Black Dragon and Magnifique as back ups, lol ;-) I guess that's the true mark of an addict!

karen

Hey Karen,
I forgot about Voodoo queen. It is a beautiful upright and a machine. Good Choice!!! Rum Runner as well. Back in the day before ike and snow LOL I'd get massive 8 to 9" blooms on mine and it was a machine also. Never a day went by that it was not blooming. It's coming out of the dormant state and new little leaves are popping out. I lost my big magnifique but I was not too upset. It dropped 5 times more buds than it ever bloomed. Different climates provide different results. One thing I have realized is these can take more cold than they say. They dont look to pretty in their dormant stage nor do i suggest leaving them with no protection but most of mine are still alive. Actually my Massive 7' Pride of acadiana and my 6' Vermillian queen are still green and blooming great. As well as my Purple Magic. The Velvet red blooms on the vermillian queen were beautiful on the snow covered bush!!!

Maureen there are SOOOOOOOO many to choose from. Just take youe time to decide. I have about 450 plants of my own and i have favorite things about all of them and hate some things as well LOL. BUT once you get started you get addicted!!! You just cant get enough of them. Also consider growth habit. Do you need an upright bush or can you get a sprawling bush. Not all of the bushes are created equal BUT sometimes the blooms are worth a not so pretty bush. Now I bet your really confused LOL There are some experts here to walk you through. dont be afraid to dive right in.

Robert

Thanks to all of you for your help and suggestions.

Here's what I'm ordering, my first 3:

American Maid
Cheap Frills (wow, gorgeous!!)
Peace train

Good to hear about Voodoo Queen. I have a bed with nothing but orange stuff, and VQ would be a nice addition.

Interesting to hear Black Dragon is temperamental.

Not really tempramental, just different; at least it was for me. The plant did not respond to pinching and fill out like a normal hib. It was the ugliest bush in my yard, growing all kattywampus, but it was always in bloom then one day it just said enough and croaked.

Hi Alice,

I had to liberate #5,6 and 7 Black Dragons from the drips. I found that it does not like near the amount of water as the other hibbies. It may have just been my climate. I decided not to carry them anymore. I took the last 3 gallons which I called (#5,6,7 earlier) and had and put them in a large pot. All of them were treated equal LOL they were all doing wonderful until about a month later. 1 of the 3 died. I just started to neglect the other 2 completely because i just figured they were all going to die. I watered the pot when I saw wilt LOL. Did fine from there. Ya just never know!!! Now with that being said they will DIE!!! LOL I think the climate's do play a major part. We are usually 100 degrees and 90% humidity in the summer. No breeze unless you make one. I have heard from David in california that the grafted grow and flourish better than those being grown on own root. I just did not want to take the chance and loose more $$$$ on them. Just thought i'd throw that one in here.

Robert

This message was edited Feb 6, 2009 5:25 PM

You might be on to something with the humidity theory. I do get a breeze but the over the top humidity still fosters a lot of problems and maybe BD is more sensitive to something like that. Edna Bogaert is another I have had problems keeping alive.

I got Edna B. twice from Logees and it died. I attributed to the fact it came from Connecticut but maybe it was just a finicky cultivar.

Edna B is gorgeous -- I just googled it. Wow, love that pink color.

HypnoticBlooms is a Great place to buy from. I have have gotten great plants.