First attempt with Hydrangea/Hibiscus

I am an amatuer gardner and have learned much thru trial and error. I have a reworked bed which is fairly well drained and has been amended with fresh garden soil. I will start at the front of the rock edging and go toward porch. In front are carnations mexican primrose and lemon sunset primrose. Then 3 hydrangea (varied colors) and between them and at the end are 4 hibiscus (various color/variety). The hibiscus are supposed to be of the hardy variety in this area (zone 7b east TN). I also have scattered through out the bed gladiolous and daylilies of varied colors. Everything in the bed seems to be doing well save the hibiscus. They are not actively growing at all. They have been in the ground about 4 to 6 weeks. These hibiscus came in small peat pots with all but one sprouted. I guess my questions are as follows. Do hardy hibiscus require special soil amendments that the above listed plants do not? Again all the other plants are doing quite well and have been in the ground less time than the hibiscus. Will this combination of plants be suitable with each other as they seem to have growth habits that compliment each other? The bed recieves about 3 hrs. sun just after sunrise then areas recieving direct sun rotates as the sun light travels between old growth oaks and hickorys. No area gets sun past 2pm. as the house shades the entire bed. All areas of the bed recieve at least 4 to 6 hrs. direct sun through the morning and early afternoon. Any advice about the hibiscus will be welcomed.

I'd give them time, I know they tend to be a bit slower than some other plants to wake up in the spring.

I am a little concerned about the varying sun preferences of the plants that you have planted together (hydrangeas tend to need more shade, but the other plants you mention all like full sun). So it's possible that you'll either have a bit too much sun for the hydrangeas or a bit too little for everything else. But if you've got things in the right parts of the bed you may be OK...since it's morning sun it may not be too much for the hydrangeas, and if most of your sun-lovers are in the part of the bed that gets 6 hrs of sun they should be OK.

The sun varies through out the day. Nothing recieves less than about 3 hrs. first thing after that the sunny areas rotate as the sun passes between/around the large shade trees. At about noon the entire bed is well lit and then gets shaded slowly until all is shaded by two. As stated everything else is coming up fine. Glads are up to 6 inches, only one daylilly has been slow but is growing, The hydrangea have al least 2 inches new growth and one is setting buds. My biggest concern is soil requirements of the hibiscus. I have heard they are picky. Where as a daylilly can be planted upside down and it will grow. Did that once to prove a point to my ex-wife.

Full sun is generally considered 6 or more hours, so if you have sun loving plants that are only getting 3 hrs of sun chances are that will not be enough for them. The hydrangeas would be happy with 3 hrs, but most of the other plants you listed probably wouldn't be.

I don't think hardy hibiscus are especially picky about soils--lots of people grow them in lots of different areas of the country so I doubt they're that fussy. I just know they're slower to wake up in the spring so you may need to be a little more patient with them.

The full sun plants primrose and carnations and glads get the most sun. The entire bed gets around 4 to 6 hrs. It is just spread out between daybreak and 2pm. I'll try to post a pick but we are getting off and on rain so it may not turn out.

First is of entire bed.

closer shot far left of bed.

Center area of bed.

And the far right end.

ecrane is correct..........hardy hibiscus are not too picky about the soil they're in and they ARE slow to wake up. Mine is now about 2' high and will eventually get to 4' to 5' in dia.so, you may have to do some rearranging as they do get huge!! It sounds like your's gets enough full sun to do well for you. Your bed looks really nice and the backdrop of the latticework really sets it off.....something I've been wanting to do myself.

Bugme: We are in same zone, what part of GA are you in. Are you getting all the rain we've been getting here in east TN? I am just south west of Knoxville off 75 south. I figured if the hydrangea look as if they are crowding I will just give em a snip here and there. The hibiscus and hydrangea are all set just off center of the bed so they have alternating front and rear growth area. The hydrangea don't get all that tall so they are a little to the front. I am going to wait and see if the lattice needs a little filling in. If so I will put in a clematis or two and train them in. Should have lots of shade back there once everything gets up and goin'.

gcorrier, I'm 7b/8...right on the edge of 8 in middle Georgia. We are getting rain and no complaints from me.

My only concern with all the rain we are getting is it has no time to soak in. Some areas got 2+ inches in less than 3 hours yesterday. A lot of flash flooding. Helps TVA with hydro electric dams around here but just washes everything off. No soak up time. We were 3 inches behind at the first of April, now about one inch over for rain fall. Too much in a short time frame. Come late july and August we will be begging for just a threat of rain. Thanks for the advice, as you are somewhat warmer there I'll give the hibiscus a few more weeks before I give up on em. We are going to be in the low 40s Monday night, highs in the 60s first of the week.

I'm down here in FL and we always put our Hibiscus out in full sun....no shade or very little shade. For myself I've found they will grow O.K. in part shade but they don't bloom as well, AND they seem to be lots more susceptible to all the bugs that love them. I am not sure though if your 'Hardy' Hibiscus are a different sort of Hibiscus that have different needs than what we usually grow down here everywhere?

Hope this helps and good luck! Becky