Hi Shirl, Could it be lack of light ? Has it got a name, like SnowFlake or Cooperi ? Is it a Rosa Sinesis type hibiscus ?
Regards, Brian Kerr.

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your reply. I really am not sure which name it goes by, as the marker in it only said Veriegated Hibiscus. This is my first hibiscus, and it is a very young plant. The plant is ony 5" tall at this point. When I brought it home, it was around 3" tall. I have it inside in a spot that receives lots of filtered ( through glass) sunlight. Perhaps this is not enough? I will try moving it outside ( the weather is nice enough now) thanks for your suggestion Brian.

Have a great day
Shirl

shirl , be very carefull, when moving hibiscus outdoors to a sunnier location , as after growing in much dimmer light indoors, those leaves will burn very badly with almost any amount of direct sunlight. Those "indoor" leaves are just not tough enough for direct sunlight, and you may have to move the plants from "shade at first" to gradually more and more direct sun to avoid the burning. I've burned my hibiscus on more than one occasion by moving them into direct sun too quickly, and the damage is not reversable , so you then have to wait for stronger new leaves to replace the damaged ones, before you can remove the old most seriously damaged leaves. Most variegated plants do reqire brighter light to maintain good variegation, but on the other hand, some are said to prefer lower light to maintain good variegation and that moving them to bright light actually causes them to lose their variegation. Since hibiscus in general are sun lovers, I'd think the variegated hibiscus would prefer sun as well. Remember also, that some variegation is affected by the over abundance of nitrogen and other factors such as temperatures, etc, so the move to brighter light , may or may not help.

Birdinthepalm, thanks for the advice!! I shall definately be careful with this plant.

Brian, it seems the plant I have is called Snow Queen. After your question I did some searching.

Thanks again!
Shirl

Hi Shirl, Snow Queen goes by different names in different places. It is then the one I was imagining. They do survive in lower light situations, but thrive in sunlight. I agree, be careful when conditioning your SQ to strong light, but when used to it, it will look magnificent. Try getting a cutting or 2 going and then recycle plants from inside to outside as they 'show' they need a change.

One point that needs mentioning is that sometimes I see SQ sport/revert back to a fully green version (from which SQ sported from), It will remain this colour no matter what you do. If this is the case, the green version is very vigorous and will eventually take over and the SQ branches will die off. However, it is easily controlled by pruning the green sport branches off

Your next one to get is Rose Flake. It is of the same species and habit, but is variegated with reds, purplish shades, greens and pinkish tones. Stunning as well.

Good luck and enjoy them all.

Brian Kerr

PS They are Rosa Sinesis type varieties