PA what kind of blue hibiscus? Was it the regular tropical kind? I don't think I've ever seen a blue one. The only one I know of is the Alyogyne huegelii.

That sounds pretty. Never seen a blue one.

Ok, you made me go look. Here is a place I found with some really beautiful ones. They have quite a few blue ones. Is the one you gave me hardy?

Here is a link that might be useful: Fancy Hibiscus

PA, that sounds really beautiful. I'll have to pay more attention when I go to Walmart. Sounds like a fun weekend.

I'm not sure how often Patty checks here so you might want to go over to Texas forum and link her in.

--Shirley

I doubt the color blue really exists in a tropical hibiscus (Hib. sinensis). I'd bet money that photo has been 'PhotoShopped'.

Some of the Rose of Sharons come close to blue.

No dave it was not photo shopped. I held it in my hand.
Karyn, I believe it was a tropical, it does not look like my hardies.
As with every thing in the big box stores it was not labled clearly(details)
Kristi, if it has a woody stem it is a tropical, the red and white flower is a tropical. Thanks for the link I'll look at it later tonight and if i see it I'll post it.

You might have seen Alyogyne huegelii aka Blue Hibiscus. I have seen it alot for sale in the southwest. I have a good picture of mine on my old puter I will have to get it out so I can post it. They have nice clear blue flowers that are quite large. The foilage is sort of dark green and 'ferny'. I started some from seeds that my plant made and I was suprised that they started quite easily.

There are also some nice blue tropical hibiscus but they aren't usually sold as commonly. I have one called Blueberry Thrill that is really blue.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alyogyne huegelii

Okay I found the pics of mine when it was blooming.
It looks a little purplish but it is a pure clear blue in real life. It is an Australian native which tolerates drought which is why it is sold and grown in the southwest.
Alogyne h.
{{gwi:522063}}

Here is a blue tropical hibiscus. Blueberry Thrill. Notice the leaves are different..larger smooth. Also much bluer in real life ...my camera has problems lol.
{{gwi:522065}}

sultry_jasmine_night, You hit it on the head it was Alyogyne huegelii. I just couldn't give up $30.00 for it.
I told the BIL to watch for it to go on sale at 1/2 price and I would get it the next trip down.
pa

That's why I mentioned Alyogyne huegelii. It's called blue hibiscus but it's not really a hibiscus. I think it's originally from Australia. That's where I got seeds from several years ago when nobody around here had heard of it. Now it's pretty common. I think the leaves look like geranium foliage.

PA, glad you didn't put down that amount of $ for the Alyogyne huegelii. As Karyn said, "Now it's pretty common" so you should find it cheaper. Believe it grows fairly quickly so you can start with a small plant.

Lenette, beautiful tropical hibiscus!

I didn't pay but 12 dollars for mine. It was in a one gallon pot when I bought it, so had been potted up a few times by the time that photo was taken. I think I got it at a Walmart but have seen them at Lowes and HD.
They will probably be all marked down pretty soon.

Mine dislikes the humidity here. It likes to dry out good before being rewatered. I think of its care kinda of the same way as those Kangaroo Paw plants (also from Australia).

Thank you Eloise. That pic was taken last summer. It doesn't look that great this year..I have so much neglected stuff that I need to repot and haven't found the time plus its so hot humid and yucky lately I don't feel like being out there any more than I have to. I feel guilty every time I get out there and water lol.

Lenette, your Blueberry Thrill is just gorgeous!

Karen

Lynette is that a Philippine violet behind your Blueberry Thrill hibiscus? What other goodies are you growing this season? You always have such a nice variety of plants.

Thank you garden paw :) I bought 8 different tropical hibiscus last year. They are not flowering as good as last year due to my neglect, I really need to get out there and do something with the poor things. Even some of my old larger ones froze back here when we hit in the teens. I almost lost one of my favorites 'Simple Pleasures' it was a dried dead stick in a pot until June and then...it started leafing up the stem I was so happy I almost cried LOL!

Hi karyn, Yep you are right, that is Phillipine Violet. I used to have the hugest shrub along side of our house. It was just a stump when we moved in and I had no clue what it was. It grew and was kinda raggedy and then burst all into bloom overnight. No scent or anything but pretty while they last. It gets these spiny calyx things when the flowers dry up that I have stabbed myself on a few times.
I have only bought a few new plants this year..otherwise the same old stuff (the ones that lived through the big freeze anyhow lol) I have been mostly growing edible garden stuff.
karyn, I thought of you the other day, when I was at ACE and I saw this huge plant with those blue crown looking flowers on it.. The tag said, 'Milkweed' but not what kind. I thought you would probably know lol. It wasn't very much so I might go back and get it. It was so cool looking and I can't stop thinking about it.

This new place has some cool wild plants around: blackberries, honeysuckle, trumpet vine, and a zillion bombax trees with these sweet smelling pink and white pompom flowers.

Err above post should read: Mimosa trees (Albizia julibrissin) not bombax LOL (yeah I wish).

Sultry,
What kind of jasmine is that in your picture? It is Beautiful and I can only imagine how wonderful it smells!
Thanks

How exciting Lenette to discover new plants throughout the year at your new place! Although the mimosas are so pretty, don't plant anything under them because they are so messy. Once the bloom falls on some other plants/shrubs, they stick and are hard to clean off them.

The dried blooms can stab the sh*t out of you!!!! Mine gets kind of lanky in the winter but fills out nicely when it goes outside. The milkweed you are talking about is a Crown Flower (Calotropis gigantea), one of my favorites. It grows to be tree size in Hawaii and they make leis out of the blooms. Mine only get to be a few feet tall but I just love the blooms. So far only my purple ones have flowered but I have a white variety as well. Speaking of Bombax ellipticum I have a grafted pink one with a nice caudex developing. Gardino's sells grafted pink ones and seed grown white ones. They have some with caudexes a foot across. We have pink flowered mimosa trees that grow wild around here. They are beautiful in bloom but like Eloise said they are messy and they reseed everywhere. I'm constantly digging them up.

ariel73: The jasmine is Jasminum polyanthum aka pink jasmine. The buds start out dark pink and the flower opens light pink and fades to white. The smell is heavenly to me. It is a very strong fragrance and some people don't like it because they find it too sweet and cloying. It is super strong at night. One time I brought a potted one into our bathroom that attatches to the bedroom and once we turned our lights off the fragrance POURED out of that plant and dh said he couldn't breath. He has asthma so I took it back out lol. It is as strong as the Cestrum Nocturnum aka night blooming jasmine but I like it better. The downside of J. polyanthum is that is only blooms once a year (in the early spring) here for me.

karyn thanks for the info on the crown flower milkweed. I am going to go back and get one next time I get over to that part of town. Your bombax sound awesome!!

eloise, I have noticed that the flowers do stick onto the lower branches of the Mimosa. As for the pods, I've been trying to get some but something keeps eating them while they are still green, so none are on the ground. I don't know if its squirrels or what that likes them. I want to save some seeds lol. There is a big one 20 ft or more out in the woods that is loaded down with pods so hopefully I will get some from it. I found some humongous white and mauve flowered crinium bulbs out there while I was looking at that tree.

Here is a link that might be useful: pink jasmine