Help identifying

[jettavwdrvr]

What is this? As I mentioned before, I moved into my first home in January and decided to leave everything in the yard grow this year so I could see what sprung up. Well...I have had a TON of interesting plants bloom. It seems to be something new each week.  You can not tell from this picture, but the blooms are as big as saucers, maybe bigger.  Even the buds are large, bigger than a golfball.

 

 

 

 

You can see in the last picture how scraggly the plant looks...once someone can identify it, I hope I can figure out how to care for it and make it bigger and bushier.  The plant is barely strong enough to hold up the blooms and buds. In all honesty, before it bloomed, I thought it was dead.

 

 

And a gratitious shot of my Amaryllis.  I have a ton of these growing around the back corner of my house and decided to cut a few off and bring them inside.  They seem to last much longer inside. If I leave them alone outside, the ants attack them. This particular Amaryllis had 12 blooms come out of one stalk!

 

 

 

[lavender]

That is a hibiscus. If it isn't getting full sun that might account for its scraggly growth.

[jettavwdrvr]

Thanks lavender! Do you know the specific kind of hibiscus? I have two other hibiscus plants in my yard and they certainly don't bloom like this - in fact they are like very tall trees with much smaller blooms.

[Petee]

It's one of the more common tropicals and they like water, good drainage and a balanced fertilizer with a shot of flower fertilizer when they get ready to bloom.

 

http://www.trop-hibiscus.com/

[lavender]

That is not a tropical hibiscus as per the web page quoted unless you have been bringing it it in during the winter. They don't survive more than a light frost and would never make it through our winters. What you probably have is one of the Disco Belle Series of Hibiscus moscheutos. They are a dwarf and they come in a number of different colors but are mostly reds/pinks/whites. The more exotic colors are all tropicals.  

http://www.paghat.com/rosemallow-discored.html

 

There are lots of taller ones that grow around here including Rose of Sharon which is  Hibiscus syriacus

[Guest snellma]

I just found out those were a form of hibiscus about 2 weeks ago.  I always thought they were holly hocks.  Our neighbor has one and it is absolutely beautiful.  All the ones here in Charleston are certainly not dwarfs.  They are about 4-5 feet tall and just covered with blooms.

[jettavwdrvr]

Lavender - it is planted in the ground, so it is outside year round...also...remember I live in SC, so our winters are tolerable  

 

Thanks for the info!  I'll start feeding it and hopefully it will get bushier and taller.

[Guest snellma]

Jetta,

 

I looks like something has been eating your leaves.  You might want to sprinkle some sevin dust on them.

 

I'm sure you plant probably dies back during the winter just like our neighbor's.  Why don't you try mulching it this winter and see how it does next year.  Get one of those brown yard bags, cut off the bottom, cover the plant, and then fill it with grass clippings or leaves before it really turns cold.  My guess is that it will be much better next year.

[gc]

Very pretty, Jetta!

[lavender]

Lavender - it is planted in the ground, so it is outside year round...also...remember I live in SC, so our winters are tolerable  

 

Thanks for the info!  I'll start feeding it and hopefully it will get bushier and taller.

I did forget that but still the tropical ones are only hardy to zone 9 and bite the dust with two many nights under 25. I'm not sure what your climate limits are but I think the true tropicals are only grown in Florida.

Here is how you tell a tropical hibiscus from a hardy one:

http://www.trop-hibiscus.com/gindr.html

The tropical ones are Hibiscus rosa sinensis

There is a hardy hibiscus called 'Southern Belle' (Hibiscus moscheutos)which is a slightly less hardy version of 'Disco Belle'. The flowers are supposedly larger. There aren't too many hibiscus that have that dinner plate sized flower that I am aware of.

[lavender]

I just found out those were a form of hibiscus about 2 weeks ago.  I always thought they were holly hocks.  Our neighbor has one and it is absolutely beautiful.  All the ones here in Charleston are certainly not dwarfs.  They are about 4-5 feet tall and just covered with blooms.

Do they have those giant flowers? The only ones that I have ever seen with the dinner plate sized flowers were fairly small plants. Kind of low to the ground. Wouldn't that be a sight on a four foot plant!

[gypsywannabe]

I had some HUGE dark red hibiscus that I tried everywhere in my yard that was protected from extreme weather conditions to protect it. FINALLY I figured, heck, I'll put it in the front of the house and if it blooms and them dies after only one year: so be it. At least I will have seen the darn thing bloom. Well, that stupid thing LOVED the front of the house even tho there was NO protection from the wind or harsh weather. Go figure!

[Guest Tracy96]

I used to have a hibiscus too but I left it outside and it died.  It was really pretty though, before it died of course..LOL

[lavender]

This is my tropical one. I bought it a couple of years ago and wasn't going to bother taking it in. Someone told me they grew fine as house plants so I dragged it in and it bloomed for about a third of the winter. It is now back outside. The flowers aren't nearly as big as the one  jettavwdrvr has, they are about 4-5 inches, but the color is great.

I've got some of the hardy ones too but again none of the large flowered ones. I used to see one blooming somewhere along Maple Ave. but I haven't noticed it this year. Maybe it hasn't bloomed yet.

[Guest snellma]

Those are the ones that I really want lavendar.  They have those planted outside our hospital and they are absolutely beautiful.  They aren't any different than any of the others in our area, but I just love the color.  I may get some of those to plant around the new shed we are building along with the canna lillies I got from the dump.

 

I will have to take a picture of the neighbor's later today and post it so you all can see it.  I have 3 red ones like your peach one planted along the back side of our garage.  They aren't blooming this year but I think it is because the tea olives are blocking their sun.

[lavender]

A couple of years ago I planted a Rose-of-Sharon that has a flower similar to that but of course it isn't in that beautiful peach color. It is a bright red if I remember correctly. I'd like to get a couple of more of the hardy doubles but haven't seen one since. If they came in peach I'd probably look harder.