I just picked up some a few weeks ago from Oso Growers. A wholesaler out of Corpus. Still haven't seen it it bloom yet. I will touch back later as the different varieties bloom. Look up osogrowers.com for more info. That is most likely where it came from.
Happy Growing David

Here is a photo of the flowers:

Here's my Hibiscus:

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:885739}}

posting more than one pic. did not work and what no edit here? what's up with that?

Welcome to the world of exotic hibiscuses, SOOOO much more exciting than the standard orange, pink, and red hibiscuses I see everywhere at our local nurseries. I wish our HD's here would offer something more exciting.

I picked up Sun Showers last year at an independent nursery. It is quite stunning. After that it was downhill with all the wonderful varieties of exotics out there.

The only thing unfortunate raising these babies is that in my zone, I have to overwinter them.

Check out www.hibiscusplace.com! I just bought six from that place.

That's a really neat flower! Haven't seen ones like that before.

eaj09

I am just getting into hibiscus, have been looking for a mail order source. Would you mind sharing your experience with this vendor? Were you happy with the quality of the plants? TIA

cyberdancer

cyberdancer,
I just received a couple of schizopetalus hibiscus from exotichibiscus.com and they were delivered in great shape and are healthy, happy plants that were well-packed. I even got a free plant, a blue butterfly plant as a bonus. The owner's name is Curt and he is so nice and helpful. Each of these fairly rare hibiscus (common name: chinese or japanese lantern hibiscus) was ten bucks. Not a bad price...I've been looking for them for some time. The larger of the two even has buds on it.
Good luck with your hibiscuses!
firefly

firefly,
Thank you for the information on that site. I will check it out, still researching. I found some at Wal-Mart yesterday, just common no name ones. That will hold me over for a little while, but I just have to get me one of those fancy ones. Again, thanks for your responce.

cyberdancer

I've also had very good experiences with exotichibiscus.com. I've gotten at least 10 hibiscus from them and they've all been great plants.
Hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com is also a great source.
Barb

I loved your picture so much that I bought a Sun Showers at my local Home Depot yesterday!

I like Hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com too. They have a very nice site and lots of pictures and information for all plants. My only problem with them is that they're sold out of the majority of their plants; I know that's not their fault, but stock determines where I am going to shop.

I bought a Nightfire and Lovebug from Fancyhibiscus.com. Winn does ship quickly. I ordered on a Monday and was told that he'd do his best to ship them out on Tuesday then I got them on Thursday. Both plants came with buds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fancy Hibiscus site

The Sun Showers I just bought.

{{gwi:885741}}

Cyberdancer:

Sorry it took so long to respond to you; have not been at the Forums in a while.

My experience with the Hibiscusplace.com was great. Decent pricing, decent S&H charges, wonderful selection. I also ordered once from Fancyhibiscus.com and while the owner was great, the prices are a little high and the selection isn't even as great as hibiscusplace.com.

Hope that helps.

eaj09, not a problem. I know how that goes. Glad to hear you were happy with your order.

beachbarbie and nobreyner, thank you for your posts. All and any information is always welcome.

It would be a miracle if I found Sunshowers at my HD, not a hibiscus in sight. Enjoy your plants, everyone.

cyberdancer

Four years ago our local HD's ventured out of their boring box and someone decided to bring in a shipment of the exotic hybrids - I snapped up three of them for $10 each. One full double dark orange, with purple eye; one was bright red, with a thick yellow rim; one was a semi-double pale yellow, with a dark pink eyezone. But alas, ever since then? Nothing but the basic red, pink, orange. I don't understand why they never offered those again. And I certainly never saw Sun Shower offered at HD. So I started looking elsewhere!

Oh well, I still keep checking no matter what. The same thing happened here, but it's been more like ten years that they brought those fancy ones. They were even named. I remember them well, but at that time I didn't know that much about plants. They were pricy then (more than $10 more like $20) so I passed on them. After reading here that some of you found Sun Showers at HD I got the hibiscus bug and had to start looking all over again. I have fun searching, so it's not a big deal.

cyberdancer

Funny thing is that I was at this particular home depot looking for a special plant and walked out empty handed. My mom and I went three days later (to look at patio sets) and told her I want to look again before we leave and there they were. Snowfire sunshowers and one or two others.

I only noticed the snowfire on a stand before the checkouts that were not there before. When I saw those I took the cue to go out just outside the building to look for others.

Over the past week and a half I've been to three Home Depots and all three carry the special hibiscus. They sell them in a separate spot from their generic stock. HD sells the generic plants in one color pot and the Bahama Bay hibiscus pots will be another color entirely. Make sure to look for the Bahama Bay tag hanging from one of the stems.

Hi nobreyner

I just googled Bahama Bay Hibiscus. WOW! Have you seen those photos? Was at HD today, nothing again. Not even common ones. Next time I go I'm going to ask if they can order them. Thanks for the info.

cyberdancer

Cyberdancer, Those went so fast at Home Depot here. They had quite a few in larger pots for only a few weeks, and never got any more. Now all the hibiscus they have are in 4" pots labeled as red, yellow, etc. Guess it was a one time deal for the season for the Bahama Bay variety. Hopefully I can overwinter this one. Never know when killer freeze will hit this part of the country. I just went to the website and you are right, those are knockout varieties!

Hi surfbreeze

I am so glad you posted. This forum is sure not very active. How is your Sunshowers hibiscus doing? Do you have very many others?

I found some common ones, a few weeks ago, at Wal-Mart. They are nice WHEN I get a bloom. The flower buds keep falling off.

This weekend I found some of the Tradewind series hibiscus at lowes. I bought Maui Wind (pink), Starry Wind (red with a yellow star swirl in the middle) and 3 others that weren't labeled.

There were finally some at HD, but they were standards-5ft tall labeled Brilliant. As I already had a red one and couldn't fit it into my car anyway I didn't buy one.

I really like the Tradewind ones. I think they're really nice and they have been blooming really well.

BTW how much were the Bahama Bay ones and what size were they?

Happy growing,
cyberdancer

Cyberdancer, I believe I paid around $9 or $10 for the 5 gal pot as they didn't come any other way. Usually, I purchase hibiscus in 1 gal pots or less, as they grow so quickly. I have the variegated and also several other colors but don't recall the names. That one was just so extraordinarily unique to me I had to have it. It is getting very large now.

surfbreeze, thank you for letting me know.

Consider yourself lucky. That was a great price for such a unique one and size of container. The 5 gallons were more than that at Wal-Mart. Such is MY luck (sigh).

cyberdancer

Surfbreeze:
That is cheap below wholesale for almost all nurseries except someone with the buying power to buy a whole crop and then use it as a loss leader to bring in traffic. I sell these same types of hibiscus for 15.99 which is cheap by comparison to most independents that ask 18 to 29 dollars which is ridiculous IMHO. I want my customers to be happy and to be able to pay a fair price but I still need to make some money so I can continue to offer a great selection of plants. I have had 12-14 diferent types of Hibiscus this year and plan to do more next year. I dont buy 100's but strive to give the consumer great choices for a fair price. Drive all us independants out and you will get to choose whatever the big boys want to sell you not really what you might want. Just my humble opinion after 20 years in this business and seeing the trends of the future based on big box thinking and got to get it for super cheap (below cost to grow) consumers. They cornered the market in sunshowers so nobody else could sell them and hundreds of nurseries throughout the state and 1000's of consumers lost the chance to see a really unique hibiscus and try one for themselves. Just a dam shame in my opinion.
Happy Growing David

Hi, i wanted to say that its great to see that other people enjoy hibiscus, as much as I do. I still do not have too much experince , and am wanting to learn from those that have knowledge to share. Hello everyone!!!!

I have had a Sunshower for about 3 years...It is now bloomed but is a small flower not the big beautiful flower it once was..Does anyone know why it isn't big anymore? Also I have 6 different colors which are all beautiful..My favorite is "Hearbeat"...It is the prettiest flower I have ever seen...Since my Lab dug it up I can't seem to find one. If anyone knows the answer to my question PLEASE let me know!!!!