That's very nice. The plant patent has a nice set of comparisons with other cultivars... though imagine there's some touch of bias. Had been interested in trying the dark leaf 'Kopper King', but can't recall why I decided it wouldn't work. Nice to know of other options.

Interesting, bostedo. I guess that since my new plants came from seeds and I do have several other hibiscuses in the garden, I can only claim that at least one of the parents is “Starry, Starry Night”. Maybe I created a “Starry, Starry Omar”?

Omar

Omar is a star!

Omar, you are really 'starring' in not making it easy for me to stick to my guns about having less plants, especially plants that need extra watering. That foliage is beautiful and who knows what the flowers will be like!

Thanks for the interesting link about the patent, Bostedo.

So, is that a “yes, I want one”?

I like the idea of having something different, but I really doubt it. We will see, I guess.

Omar

"So, is that a “yes, I want one”?"

I'm going to hate myself in the morning, but ....

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You’ll love it.

Omar

Okay, so I dragged out a big pot; it's about 7 gallon, thick foam like composite material. I assume yours is in the ground. Do you think the big pot will work? How much sun does yours get?

Surprisingly, mine is growing in a relatively small pot (3 g). They like to have their roots tight (similarly to bougies) and frequent fertilization. My mother plant is in light shade but the seedling I have growing in full sun is the one showing the darker color.

Your plant should arrive on Monday.

Omar

Yay! I'll have the pot ready! (And just when I thought I wouldn't be needing anymore potting soil ... lol)

These are my white Althea grown from seed.

Sorry about the bad camera.

I think it got resized when I posted it and it cut off half of the pic too.

They are beautiful, especially since you grew them from seed not knowing what you'd get.

White is really hard to photograph and with some cameras red is too. The leaves and the bench look to be in better focus. Maybe just stay back a little further if your camera doesn't have a close-up setting.

But I'd rather see blurry pictures than no pictures at all. Thank you for posting them.

They showed up full size for me just now. When the photos are small you can click on them and they will enlarge over to the side.

Oh I see, they do open when you click on them.. lolol

Actually I collected the seeds from some other Altheas I have but I do get surprises.

I have a few dark pink and some light pinkish/purple too.

I don't have a lot of sun, so I get my hibiscus fix at the arboretum where I garden ... one of my favorites, this one is Mars Madness (I'm pretty sure):

I really like that you can see the chartreuse elephant ears behind it:

And this one is 'Amaretto':

And it's been a great spring for the rose of Sharon!

This double at the Arbo is just a blooming fool:

I got a new one called 'Azurri Blue Satin' - the buds are really a navy blue:

Then I was at SFA Mast Arboretum on Friday, and saw a couple that were outstanding - this one is 'Summer Ruffle"

And this lovely specimen is 'Raspberry Smoothie':

I loved looking at all the gorgeous hibiscus and altheas above. Thank you! I have one young lavender althea. It's another plant that makes me wonder why I haven't planted more.

"Starry, Starry Omar" arrived this morning in great shape; it was not even wilted. Ordinarily I would plant it in a little pot first to let it recover, but everyone on line has talked about how fast they take off when put in the ground so it was planted in the big pot that was prepared for it. I have a box handy to shade one side of it from the afternoon sun if needed while it recovers from transplanting.

Here is a beautiful song written about Starry, Starry Night; actually it's dedicated to the artist, Vincent van Gogh. My friend Linda M sent it when I told her I was getting a seedling.

Awesome! They are strong plants and handle transplanting very well. I don’t think it will need any shade.Keep us posted.

Omar

Had to delete one picture from above post because I keep getting messages like this from Houzz

"Your post is 773354 characters too long, posts can be up to 21800 characters. Please make it a little shorter and try again."

Another one: “Danica” (Thanks, Patty!)

Omar

So many wonderful colors and variations! Am almost inspired to uncap the irrigation circuit and run drip lines to the hibiscus. After cutting irrigation when the back yard St Augustine was replaced with buffalo grass, the Malvaviscus (Turk's cap) and Pavonia have done fine, but the hardy hibiscus plants (H. moscheutos/ laevis/coccineus) mostly just hang on. This halberdleaf (H. laevis) seems to be the toughest without the supplemental water, though none are flourishing as they did when irrigated once or twice a week:

Texas star hibiscus (H. Coccineus) finished its first meager blooms before I could grab a photo.

The short "Disco Belle" (H. moscheutos) didn't return a year after I had to move it - think it would have held on, too, without the transplant set-back. Similar size flowers to "Starry, Starry, Night', but without that attractive veining - here's a photo from 2017:

bostedo, I may have a “Starry, Starry Omar” seedling available. PM me if you are interested.

Omar

Thanks, Omar. Glad you're ready to start the Dallas trials so soon. :) I've PM'ed you.... which took an embarrassingly long time to figure out again after not using for 11 months.

Ragna, one of the “Starry, Starry Omar “ seedlings from the same batch of yours has buds already so your plant should bloom for you this year.

Omar

Omar, wow -- that's amazing. It will be interesting to know how closely the flowers match the mother plant.

The little plant you sent me hasn't skipped a beat; has never wilted or shown the slightest sign of stress. It's near the house where I can watch it and keep it watered. A new leaf is emerging.

Bostedo, thanks for the photos and info on how your various hibiscus plants are faring.

bostedo, how do you like the Buffalo grass? Can you plant it by seed? I am in dire need of backyard grass due to loss of St. Augustine from sod webworm, dogs, trees, roots etc... We seeded in the winter with with rye but that's gone now. I need something in between flowerbeds.

memetexas, I've moved my comments about pets and our buffalo grass to the post on our lawn conversion to avoid heading OT. It's available here: Buffalo grass conversion

Buffalo grass can be planted from seed, though could require more mowing if the tall male flowers bother you (our vegetatively reproduced 'Prestige' plugs were female only). Could also consider Habiturf (Thunder turf) and other native seed blends. Though like straight buffalo grass, these will probably require a nearly full sun exposure.

Thank you bostedo, I read your new post and loved the pics. Great tutorial on how to do it!

Sadly though, I have dappled shade in so many places.

Caught the Texas Star (H. coccineus) on the re-bloom:

One of the “Starry, Starry Omar” is about to bloom:

Some differences compared to its mother I have noticed so far are:

-darker foliage

- flower buds start forming from the axil to the apex. Mother blooms only at the apexes.

- flowers seems to be smaller. I’ll measure it tomorrow .

Omar

It's a dark leafed beauty! I can't believe all those buds on a small plant.

I love the red leaves Omar. It's always nice to add that color with all of the green plants everywhere. Such nice big buds, can't wait to see the blooms open!

Update: pretty but not as colorful or big (7”) as its momma (9”)

Omar

Thank you for the photo! Seven inches is no slouch! And the foliage -- WOW!

I've been contemplating putting in an hibiscus in place of the azalea I tried. That poor thing is just limping along. I saw so many beautiful ones in Louisiana and figured the hot and humid of San Antonio must be similar, but it's just toooo hot I think. So I've got this special spot right in the front of my house and I want a really special show stopper kind of plant. It gets maybe 4 hours of direct mid day sun and then dappled sun until the end of the day. Think hibiscus would work there? Any preferred variety for a really bold vibrant flower?

Omar would be one to say because he grows several, but I'll say of the ones I've grown Lady Baltimore and Lord Baltimore have been my favorites for the sheer number of blooms at one time.

Omar, I love the dark, dark foliage on 'Starry, Starry Omar'! Just goes to show you that seeds from hybrids can produce some unexpected beauties!!

Lin, I‘m still not sure if the different foliage colors are caused by the sexual reproduction or the amount of exposition to the sun. However, here’s another factor: leaf shape. Another seedling has this leaf shape that any other seedling has shown so far:

First, it had blotched, round leaves. Then, round, burgundy leaves and now, spear-like blotched leaves. It’s playing with my mind...

Carrie. this is what I wrote you about.

Omar

Omar, here's the one I got from you ...

Ha! It’s also a different color. It’s similar to the mother plant... Is it in a “full time“ sun exposed spot?

Omar

It gets a couple of hours of sun in the morning, then dappled shade of the Ratama tree, then a couple more hours of sun in the late afternoon. I could move it in full sun and see if the leaves darken.

Do it and see what happens!

Omar

Mother plant behind a Tithonia.

Omar

My version of Omar's starry starry night hibiscus has been moved to FULL sun and I am in a FULL sweat ... LOL. So we'll see what it will do now, although I kind of like the part green/part dark leaves ... :-)

Omar's starry starry night hibiscus seedling has 5 buds! I'm like a stage mom eagerly awaiting the opening of their act ...

Since the plant was placed in full sun the leaves have remained variegated instead of solidly dark like the mother plant.

Yesterday on my other gardening forum a guy in Kentucky offered up a seed trade for seeds from his beautiful Swamp Hibiscus. Now I'm not a pro at growing things from seeds, but have had occasional success at it. And for this plant, I'll give it a go. Here's a picture of his 3 y.o. plants. He said a lady near him roots them and he got this particular plant at 1-year. Said he uppotted it annually and will be transferring it to the ground next year. They can get quite tall (7-12' tall and 4-6' wide). I just love the palest pink of this cultivar in that it is pale pink all the way to the center. No darker pink-or burgundy like the one in my front yard. If I have success with these seeds, I'd love one of these down at my cabin.

Ragna, definetly they are sun lovers. Those flowers are mesmerizing and it seems that older plants give bigger flowers. The mother plant has mottled leaves like yours. Some of your plant’s sisters have solid maroon leaves.

buttoni, I have had very high germination rate after sowing hibiscus so chances are you will too. Just remember they need lots of water, lot of sun and frequent fertilization (imagine that!)

Omar

I'll remember that Omar, and I'll be sure to use the drip hose on it at the cabin when we're not there, too. :)

I arose before daylight to find not a 'starry, starry night', but more like a full moon glowing in the garden ...

It seemed incredibly rude to break out the measuring tape, but I did anyway ...

Omar, thank you for offering this lovely moon size star even when I insisted I was 'cutting back on plants' ... oh well ... :-)

Awesome!

Omar