Have you had that long? Mine is unlike any other plant I have, the stem growth seems to be softwood for the most part, very green.

Darren

Mine i have had for about a year and a half or so i think - I am thinking (horrbile at remembering these things) I seem to think this is the second winter it is going through with me. It is one of the very slow growers, it isn't branching much, just extending its current ones. With great conditions, the flowers are about 6 inches or so - right now they look like minis... On several hibiscus i have, the new wood starts out green, i can usually see this years growth and as the growth gets older it hardens and becomes brown. this is especially apparent in my seedlings. its been interesting watching them change. i think with the slowness that it grows, the wood stays green for a lot longer. it takes about 3 time as long for the spent pods to actually fall off the plant, etc... it doesn't drop leaves that often, they just seem to keep getting bigger for a long time. have to say I had tons of blooms from it this last summer/fall - its not a large plant so i really only have about 2-3 flowering sections on it, but i had i think 6 -7 flowers open at one time for a few weeks.

Interesting. Yes, the growth seems to stay green for longer than other Hibiscus. I measured a bloom recently and mine wase exactly 6" but I don't remember if it kept it's pink center. Will check out the next bloom.

I love the thickness/lushness of this plant. Unlike some of my more scraggly ones.

You mentioned seedlings, you're growing them from seed? Where did you get your seeds from?

Darren

I have been pollinating my flowers and waiting anxiously for a viable pod to develop. so far, my butterfly will produce small pods of about 3-5 seeds, my red dragon will produce pods of 8-12 seeds, hula girl no viable pods yet... a couple of the other big box varieties ( cherie, cairo and carolina breeze) haven't produced a pod at all. Hibiscus have no natural pollinators so you have to do it all by hand and its a lottery of what type of flower you will get - i haven't gotten any flowers on my seedlings yet. I think my oldest seedling is just coming up to about a year this summer and I don't think the oldest ones are from my plants. I went seed hunting at disney one year, and actually found a pod. I have about a dozen little baby seedlings - so those will take at least another year or so to flower - but these are all from my plants. got some fun leaf varieties already.