I just bought Plum Crazy today. Who can report on it in their garden.?

I'm a bit annoyed with myself. Thought I was getting one with lots of buds, but I think they are seedheads. Onto the internet so I can learn the difference.

Plum Crazy is my oldest hibiscus and a favorite. I moved it this spring as it wasn't growing well in the area it was moved to a few years ago, too much root competition from a large fir tree. I find it blooms late for me.

Oh, man do I love perennial hibiscus! I have '"Brandy Punch" blooming right now, and it is the most perfect shade of mid-pink I could wish for. Will be sad to leave them behind (but no reason I can't buy some for the new place at end-of season sales...). My other favorite is "Disco Belle" white (with the sharp red eye); love "Disco Belle" red, too - especially as an accent to the white.

Oh goody! I don't have any hardy hibiscus yet but I am enjoying the photos.

Thanks for the gorgeous photos! Nice to see that they survive in MN so should be OK here if properly protected from critters. A friend gave me one to try, but it didn't come back the next year and I wasn't sure if it was a hardiness issue since I am in a cold pocket or if the voles got it.

I had Kopper King I enjoyed for a number of years. We had a very cold winter for us(probably -10) and it died. I was surprised. There's a mutant strain of gardener's amnesia that makes us forget our failures and makes hope spring eternal.

Here are some of my favorites.

'Plum Fantasy'

Nice to see so many varieties. mxk, I suggest you take seeds or cuttings of your Disco Belles as have not seen any of them offered in this area for years though there are mail order plants. Luna seems to be the most common shorter one in this area.

Hibiscus "Heartthrob":

This next one is my absolute favorite Hibiscus:

It's not as showy, but the fruit are terrific when fried and served with good barbecue. I like the fritters too.

Hey Ech - glad to see you posting again! Your hibiscus are luscious :0)

Mnwsgal - I was able to locate seed of Disco Belle, will be germinating this winter for my new place. Even finding seed for these wasn't that easy; hopefully germination rate will be good - we'll see.

I've never taken cuttings of hibiscus. Funny you mentioned it, as I was thinking of taking cuttings from Brandy Punch just yesterday. Is now a good time to take the cuttings? Easy to root or not so much? I don't have any potting medium right now -- will these readily root in water?

mxk, I have a stem of Midnight Marvel that broke off a couple of weeks ago that I am trying to root. Two parts I stuck in the ground in a shaded area near the back water faucet and a larger one in a plastic container with water. None have rooted yet.

Two years ago I rooted a stem of Plum Crazy. It is blooming today. Don't remember what I did but expect I rooted it in water as I often put any broken or mistakenly cut stems in water by the back door.

Below is a thread from the hibiscus thread.

Propagating perennial hibiscus

Rosella sabdariffa is the shrub for hibiscus tea...and certainly not an option for non-tropical climates, sadly. Although I have grown many mallows, hardy hibiscus (apart from syriacus) have somehow escaped my attention - the size of the flowers is a tad...scary...but I am enjoying the pics no end.

Oh, my new Plum Crazy opened and it is a beaut! Those are all buds, not seed heads so I have a half dozen more to look forward to. I also have a new rose "purple pavement" which threw one flower, and it's a near dead match. Unfortunately, they don't bloom at the same time.

Does anyone grow the dwarf hibiscus "lit'l Kim?" I put two in my new garden. It is very tropical and the proportions are nice. Creamy white with an unusual well defined deep reddish rose eye. If no one else has a photo I'll try to get one and post it. It can't be that hard.

HIbiscus, Starry Starry Night, that my Daughter in law planted in July. I think its gorgeous.

Starry, Starry Night is indeed lovely with that dark foliage and pink bloom.

Glad to hear that your Plum Crazy bloomed, Marie.

Rusty, Heartthrob is a gorgeous red. Is the other one okra? It is not a commonly grown vegetable in my neighborhood. Don't think I've ever eaten any.

they are all gorgeous! guess ill try putting mine in the ground. i was afraid they would die out in z4.

I have never been able to keep them alive. They die every winter. I purchased two this year at a Lowes markdown. Will give it another try.

I picked up Pink Swirl on sale two falls ago at H. D. Got Midnight Marvel at a local nursery during their fall sale. I enjoy checking as one never know what treasure will be left for the end of year sales.

Marquest, I know you are an experienced gardener so this post is probably redundant. With fall planting of hardy hibiscus I make sure the plant is well watered until the ground freezes then mulch thickly with shredded leaves which are removed in my garden mid to late April. The plants begin to show growth late May to early June for me. If I get a plant very late in the fall I sink the pot in the ground, mulch well and wait to plant the next spring.

If you have problems with voles eating the roots you may need to plant the root ball in a wire cage like NHBabs has described.

Good luck.

mnwsgal, Thank you I will give your advice a try. Since I am late in the season maybe I should try to sink the pot. Last year I did not sink the pot I just put it against the house and covered with leaves and we had a very mild winter. All my potted roses survived in the same corner but this plant did not survive. The others I have purchased I tried them planted in the garden. I do not generally use mulch in the garden could be the problem. I have loads and loads of leaves so that will not be a problem.

Note: I really appreciate your advice. I believe no matter how experienced you are you can always learn something you do not know. I know I do not know a lot and have been gardening for 40 yrs. LOL

I just debated that advice with myself

i decided that early September is pretty early and will allow two full months root development in very warm soil. With mulch and luck they should do ok

if I lose one or two that's the breaks

waiting for them to take their sweet old time in spring is the hardest part of all

i have been wintering mine in a so. window for 3 yrs. dont water them maybe once a month. they come alive in march or april. i only have 2 hardy ones.

cindy that is a good idea. I winter a lot of tropical plans maybe I will try one inside and one outside, I winter my tropical hibiscus and it even blooms through the winter.

marquest i have two tropicals they are in from late sept till spring. i bring them in when it drops to in 50's at night. in jan sometimes they drop all their leaves. but in spring they fill in nice. im z4.

i had a midnight marvel. it bloomed the first year, but it never broke dornancy in spring. i had a plum fantasy same thing there. wintered them inside in pots. only one that did well was the blue river that said tyedye on the tag. all three were set together same area and treated all the same. go figure....

rusty_blackhaw - I like those tasty Hibiscus too ;-) But I can't grow them here. The only type I manage is this one:

H syriacus Red Heart. (With raindrops, naturally.)

'flora', that is a particularly beautiful flower...stunning design in red.

Our Blue River II from a couple of weeks ago.

As you seasoned hibiscus growers know, the blooms don't look good beyond a day or so but as a new comer to this genus I am pretty impressed how long the plant continues to give forth new blooms.

(Mnwsgal, what is involved in starting this plant by seed...there are so many of them!)

Are at least some of the perennial varieties self-cleaning? Or do they need daily deadheading to look decent?

I don't find the dead flowers too obvious. Nothing like the snotty tissues of hybrid day lilies

For those who dislike H syriacus for self seeding, I'd just mention that in my climate the dead flowers drop off quickly and I've never seen a seed pod. Maybe Campanula gets them over on the drier East side?

IME the spent flowers do self clean but not for a day or so. I deadhead as don't like the looks of the spent blooms wilting on the plant or on the ground around it. As the weather cooled I found that 2nd day blooms still were acceptable looking until late afternoon. So only deadheaded every two days now. There are still some buds to open but not many.

We are beginning to see Japanese Beetles in our area. They were mainly eating the blossoms on my hibiscus and found the white colored ones the most tasty. I noted that by mid morning they weren't too spry and were easily knocked off into a jar of soapy water. Quite a few were found at the center of the wilted bloom. Two jobs done at once.

Most of the seed pods I leave on the plants do not develop, they dry up and fall off the plant.

rouge, your BRII is beautiful! I found several blossoms emerging from the same stem only on BRII. Did you have joined blooms on your plant?

I winter sowed my hibiscus seeds, easy, peasy, no messing around with knicking the seeds or using sandpaper on them. The seeds I used came from G W seed swaps and germinated well over several years.

Floral I do not think the new ones seed like the old Rose of Sharon. I have a few double ones that do not self seed they are so pretty I wish they would. But the old ones I have a million of them.

marquest, do u have pics of ros?

Cindy

These are the the double ROS that does not seed

The ROS that seeds everywhere. I have white, purple and this blueish/purple one.

they r really pretty. i wish those were for z4. that last one looks like my pink flamingo that i thought was a tropical.

I think all ROS are hardy in zone 4. I think of them as weeds.

marquest. all the ones ive seen in catalogs say z5 . i only got one out of six to grow. z4.

midnight marvel first and only bloom. It was that big.

The ones that I picked up at Lowes for a dollar are still blooming. Still have a lot of buds.

I grew several ROS from seed and had them for several years then passed them on to others as they were deer candy in my yard. Didn't have any of those beautiful blue ones.

Good bargain hunting, marquest. Only a few buds left on my hibiscus. They have put on a glorious display this year. Soon the mums will open fully to make us forget the hibiscus but right now it is looking a bit bare.

I have the same deer problem. I have had to wrap them until they get taller then they seem to leave them alone.

I just got a luna 3 in 1. White,red,pink. Im z4b. If i plant in the ground should i space each one 3ft apart or plant them together like they are in the pot? It would be in my flower bed on so. Side of house.

I say spread them out as they will easily grow three feet wide when mature.

I have never seen a seedling of h.syriacus. I have a couple (which I largely ignore) on my allotment...although I generally have a thing for the mallow family. Suspect a price will be paid for this craze - althea cannabina, a lovely thing, is proving to be one of the insistent mallows - like the unwelcome m.sylvestris, with a ferocious root system reaching the centre of the earth. Only lack of space prevents me from growing the gorgeous abutilon vitifolium. Mystified that I hardly ever see this.

Still not trying h.moscheutos et al - far too scarily tropical...what do you think about growing one with dahlias?

the Hibiscus should be blooming soon. Send in photos! For that matter, so will the "Rose of Sharon" but let's start another thread for those.