..goodness, that's huge !.... I haven't seen one that size since I was in the Fiji Islands... I'm amazed that's not a conservatory or glasshouse plant... I'm not surprised you want to move it rouge.... I hope it survives for you...

My partner wanted a pure white hibiscus and I had read good things about BRII.

(I don't think I have seen any pics of "Midnight Marvel" this year?)

Rouge - LOVE that Hibiscus. I have a different version, that has a pink eye and it bleeds into the white and I've been thinking of getting the white one. The blossoms last a day, right? Do you find the plant itself floppy?

I have a different version, that has a pink eye and it bleeds into the white

Pictures please pm2!

Yup...a bloom, once it is fully open, lasts a day. But unbeknownst to me until last season was that flowers appear each day for quite a long time...4 weeks or so?

For some reason I assumed that all the flowers opened up over a short time period and then nothing...silly me.

Here it is in its entirety:

Yes, your shrub looks about how mine does. I like the white better, I think. Not sure I get 4 weeks worth, since it's not in full sun. My foliage is brownish, which I like. Sorry, I haven't taken a photo all summer this year! Not enough time to keep up with the garden and nothing is photo worthy, sad to say. I'll try to find a photo from last season, when I get a chance. Thanks for posting your photos, It looks nice with your Hydrangea there!

DH took photos yesterday. Keep in mind that my gardens have had little to no attention in the last month so there are branches sprawling that would have been staked. This includes Midnight Marvel in the photo below.

I am including this photo to show how BRII has stayed quite short this year, white one center of the row, compared to others. Perhaps it is sprawling as the Midnight Marvel is sprawling. Some of the blossoms on the ground are spent ones that DH deadheaded before taking photos.

I don't know why they posted smaller but the photos are clickable to a larger size. I see that the next time I came to this thread some of the photos are full sized. They appear very small after I first post them.

I just found that when I use Firefox the photos are not clickable but they are on Safire.

Close up of Midnight Marvel.

Blue River II

Pink Swirl

MNWSgal - That ‘Midnight Marvel’ is nice too. I was thinking of putting a Hibiscus next to a Purple Knight Buddleia. Maybe the Red would be a nice combo? I like red and purple together. Don’t think I have room for both the white and the red.

I so like "Pink Swirl"!

What does it look like in total?

"Lucy" as a tree standard:

I just got this one early last fall. In the above photo it is next to BRII, fourth one from the street. Sorry no better photo at this time.

That Lucy is lovely. Nice combination and like how the thalictrum blossoms appear against Lucy's.

Pink Swirl and BR2 are knockouts!

I have an unknown cultivar, given to me by a friend:

Here's a distance shot, showing it combined with a whole bunch of other plants.

a2zmom, that "unknown cultivar" is ridiculous. It is so red that your camera seems to have difficulty capturing it!

Thanks mnwsgal. My partner doesn't like the 'pom pom' style flowers of "Lucy". But this particular tree holds special meaning. It was the first plant we chose when had I had just caught the gardening bug.

(See it looking forlornly in the back corner (September 2007)):

August is definitely hibiscus season. Rouge, that BR2 is gorgeous! Only the pale pink ones are blooming here still - have been in bloom about 10 days or so. The north side of the driveway is in its 'wall of hibiscuses' stage - I really need to remove some/thin them out but they are a pain to dig out! I'm careful to remove the seed capsules after the flowers fade to prevent seeding but the clumps still get big fast!

Along the driveway yesterday evening:

The only other one in bloom at the moment is this unknown variety - it was supposed to be a red variety, but clearly isn't!

My favorite red is 'Fireball'. They should be blooming sometime in the next few days but at the moment only a few buds are showing color:

'Fireball' starting to bloom Aug 23 2014

Rouge, ha! I'd say the first picture is true to the actual color - red with some pink undertones. The second shot is a bit redder than it actually is imo. It's definitely an excellent addition to my late summer garden.

Here's 'Summer Storm'

And here's 'Brandy Punch'

I'm most excited for 'Pink Elephant' to bloom, but it may be another week or so. It's six feet tall now and the blooms will be huge.

Edited to add that, at least on my monitor, the color of these looks really washed out. On my phone the color looked more true. 'Brandy Punch' is a very saturated deep pink.

Just starting to bloom...peppermint schnapps

i cut it back early to keep it from becoming a monster.

T2D - I haven't had self-sown seedlings because of keeping the capsules cut off BUT some of pink ones are grown from seeds I collected from the first one I bought. They had a high germination rate! And there is an area in a public space not too far away by the lake where a few hibiscuses turned into a very large mass of them. And I have had problems with other members of the mallow family seeding around too much, so I am wary of their potential. I prefer to take the 'better safe than sorry' route :-) They are such gorgeous things that I'd hate to end up wanting to remove them for the crime of too much seeding!

Gardenho and others who cut theirs back...do you pinch back individual stems at a certain height, or give the whole plant a "haircut" at some point? Is there much delay in bloom?

I've read that a grower says that cutting them back early will help branching and create a plant with more stems in future years too. I'm wondering if that's hype or science, and would love some real-world input.

'woody', I remember very clearly all your many hibiscus when I visited you in August one year...gorgeous.

Regarding BRII. I am surprised it isnt readily available in nurseries. Maybe there is the thought that pure white flowers arent popular?

Ruth I cut it back about 1/3 when it gets to approx 10". I have to do this a couple-few times as they sprout up sporadically. It has spread in width and yes it does delay bloom, but not by much.

GardenHo the color of your PS flower is striking. (How tall does your plant get with the periodic pruning?)

Thanks Rouge.

im guessing it's roughly 5x5.

Thanks, Gardenho. I'm going to try it on my Summer Storm next year. My Pink Elephant and Brandy Punches are where their "as is" size is fine, but I'd like a fuller and slightly shorter for Summer Storm.

Well I was off slightly. It's more like 5.5Tx5W. Towers me by 7" ;)

I've always admired the sizes and colors of Woodyoak's hibiscus, as well as the way she uses them. I think they are the Disco series which I've not seen around here. Our local nurseries have been carrying the Lunas and now have moved onto another variety. Darned if I can tell the difference. Can you?

Marie - I've long thought my pink ones were Disco Belles but recently found an old tag in my tag collection for a Southern Belle hibiscus. When I look at what the Missouri Botanical Garden site says about the two of then, the Discos are supposed to be 2-2.5' tall while the Southerns are ~4-6'. Mine are in the 3-4' range so I'm not sure which they are! Both are said to be grown from F1 hybrid seeds. It didn't say specifically what their parents were. Plants grown from seeds of my original plants can be quite different than the original - leaves of a different shape, or flowers without the darker pink eye, or very dark pink flowers with sort of pleated petals. I just enjoy them without being too concerned about their proper names! :-) The neighbours seem to like them too - a couple stopped by this morning to take a closer look at them....

Thanks, woodyoak. None the less, your posts over the last several years made me take notice.

I had copper King for several years; besides giving me heartburn with its delayed emergence it just gave up one winter and never came back.

Marie - My pink ones along the driveway grow where the Ivory Floradale tulips are in spring and pink peonies in June. The hibiscuses emerge the last week of May/first week of June. There are also a couple of 'Pink Beauty' potentilla shrubs, a 'Queen Elizabeth' rose, some purple coneflowers, Allium sphaerocephalon, 'Dreamweaver' mums, Sedum spectabile, a couple of white hydrangeas - one with a Piilu clematis growing in to it, and a few other things (can you tell that I plant densely)! The bed is only ~12-14" wide by 30-40' long.... (I have never believed that it is not possible to have an attractive bed in a narrow space - I have a number of very narrow beds here!) Everything plays nicely together and keeps the bed fairly showy from spring to fall. The color theme is pink - I call it my 'pretty in pink' border :-) The late emergence of the hibiscuses is actually an advantage there since it gives the other things their time to take center stage before the big, bushy (never pinched back!) hibiscuses get big in July.

Love these pictures! Here's mine - Terri's Pink.

Click on pic to enlarge - can you resize pics in Houzz? Don't see the html that I could change previously in gardenweb.

Hibiscus x paramutabilis ‘Terri’s Pink,’ listed as hardy to z7, relatively new. Referred to as a “chance seedling” that was
discovered & cultivated by Treesearch Farms wholesale nursery in Houston. Got mine 2 yrs ago FREE from an LSU AgCenter
horticulturalist who was a speaker at one of my gardening groups. Considered a sterile hybrid, it avoids the
problems of rose mallow that can reseed prolifically in my wet climate. Almost 5 ft tall & currently blooming. Thanks for the thread, Rouge, love these hardy plants w/ their huge flowers.

Listed as out of stock but best to plant in early spring anyway since it
dies back in the winter: Terri's Pink at Almost Eden Plants mailorder nursery in Louisiana.

Here is BRII in full bloom today!

I never thought of cutting them back. I have 3 Southern Belles, and they get 7' - 8' high. I would love to have them stay just a little smaller--so I'll have to give this a try next year.

Rouge...I definitely need a sunny spot and a BRII after seeing that picture!

Late bloomer due to moving it around a couple times last season...I love the rich color and ruffled edges.

Jazzberry Jam

Our new patio is half finished and I am planning the "Autumn garden" I want near it. I am so glad to be reminded of hibiscus.

Do they attract hummers and/or pollinators? Do you notice any colors or variety is more popular than others?

Plants in this spot have to earn their keep.

I didn’t know that about cutting them back! Mine were just planted last
year. I was disappointed to see each was just one (or 2) tall stems !

Is there a time frame for the cutting back? Like, don’t do
it after (example) mid July, or you lose buds?

I have Hibiscus'Kopper King,' white with red/pink center; and Midnight Marvel, with maple leaf foliage and deep red flowers.

I pulled out a Luna Red that was not performing and moved
it to a sub-prime location. Plugging Midnight Marvel into its
space. Of course now Luna Red (~ 3 years old) looks bushy and is loaded with buds.

Linnea56, I don't cut mine back until the following spring when I finally see new growth. This is one of those "hold your breath" plants while you wait and wait and wait......to see if it survived. But, it always seems to pull through even the worst winters!

I have a couple planted outside my fence and I do enjoy that they're tall enough that I can see them from my front door.

Does one cut back a hardy hibiscus shrub in the Fall? The 5 foot stalks of our BRII are somewhat splayed out from the centre and the weight of them coupled with snow might pull up on the root ball below?

I cut all mine down on Thursday. It took about two hours and needed loppers to cut through the thick stems :-)

Wow! Beautiful pictures everyone. I moved mine to a different location because for some reason aphids were chewing the flowers off. Ugh. It took me forever to dig it up, but hopefully, it will like its new home. Mine was "My Valentine" - red, of course.

I need more (all) of these wonderful plants shown.

rouge I adore pure white flowers, that BRII is gorgeous!

I have had this Southern Belle for over 20 yrs. It did not bloom until Sept. this year because of the cool spring.

Wonderful 'Peren'.

We were so impressed with our 2nd year BRII but as is often the case for me I didn't plant it in the correct location. I am hoping to move it come next spring.

Woody, do you cut them all the way down? I thought these should be left until spring for cutting back? If you're successful with cutting them all the way back in fall I may try it. I'm not a fan of the sticks in front of the fence all winter.

Thyme - yes, I cut them down hard. For small/(young) plants I leave 6" or so of stem standing so I remember where they were come spring, given that they are so late to start growing again. My biggest clumps are now so big that there's no mistaking where they are! Those ones I cut down quite short. They also have some early tulips that come up in the clumps first so that also tells me where the hibiscuses are in the spring :-)

Hi all, in re-reading this wonderful thread I notice Marie Tulin wrote on 8/24/15: "Do they attract hummers and/or pollinators? Do you notice any colors or variety is more popular than others?"

Marie, see picture below of what is probably a Cloudless Sulphur (we have a lot of those around here). I only have Terri's Pink, which is a deep, bright fuchsia. An LSU AgCtr prof told me it would attract butterflies so that's why I planted it.

Thanks so much for fall pruning info, Woodyoak. Mine grows too lanky in only location that I have available. To make bushier prof recently told me in spring I can prune back some when it is 2 ft tall, then again when 3 ft tall, & to try for a 3rd pruning before June 1 in my warm climate. Will try next yr! BTW, how do you size photos in Houzz?

Woody, thanks so much for the extra info. I'm so glad you happened to mention that you cut back in the fall. I'm definitely going to do that this year....probably tomorrow!

Resurrecting this. It is hibiscus bloom time and I'm waffling about the new location of my hibiscus. There's lots of good info in this thread. T2D, did you cut back in the fall and if so, did they come through?