About to become a hibiscus hoarder/collector

15 years ago

I hardly ever see Chinese Hibiscus in my area.

I bought a cute pink one called "lipstick" just for the hell of it. I forgot about it, and it (in it's plastic pot) ended up tossed onto the driveway with a bunch of roofing debris. I had just put up a tall fence on the driveway, and I think I created a microclimate. It has a West exposure. Both my bougainvillea and this little Hibiscus have grown huge and are full of fresh green growth and flowers. I planted the Hibiscus and it is very happy. So now I want more Hibiscus. Are those "hotbiscus" plants as hardy as the plain single Chinese Hibiscus? Or should I just stick with the standard red, orange, pink, yellow single flower Hibiscus?

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Comments (2)

gansn
15 years ago
Wow! I'd never heard the term hotbiscus! Thanks for throwing it my way. Googled it and found some fab pics. Can't answer your question though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hotbiscus thumbnails
pharazon
15 years ago
Because they are rarer and more prized cultivars, they are grown in mostly ideal conditions, with very regular watering and fertilizing. Stress factors are usually very low, and so when they go from a green house to your patio, they may have a tough time acclimating. If you plant to put them in full sun, I would suggest slowly adjusting them to it, over the course of a week or two.

In my personal experience, the blooms are very susceptible to sunburn. This doesn't ruin things by any means, but the flowers will be more striking if given partial shade for most of the day. Mine receive direct sun for two hours a day.

Also, I would suggest protecting them from too much wind. As a general rule, hibiscus don't much like wind, and bigger, heavier blooms and buds are more likely to be dropped in heavy winds.

I hope this helps.