Hi gardeners -- I'm in Alexandria, VA and would like to grow a hibiscus in
my yard, parts of which get very good sun most of the year. I'm looking for
any feedback from folks in my area about your experiences growing hibiscus
outside. I planted a Rose of Sharon a few years ago that died the first
winter I planted it, so I'm wondering if it's possible to grow hibiscus as a
perennial here or if I just killed the plant with my rudimentary gardening
skills.

Any comments or ideas would be most helpful. Thanks!


**************
Basic psychology is one of my subroutines.

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Natty_Dread wrote in message
...
Hi gardeners -- I'm in Alexandria, VA and would like to grow a hibiscus in
my yard, parts of which get very good sun most of the year. I'm looking
for
any feedback from folks in my area about your experiences growing hibiscus
outside. I planted a Rose of Sharon a few years ago that died the first
winter I planted it, so I'm wondering if it's possible to grow hibiscus as
a
perennial here or if I just killed the plant with my rudimentary gardening
skills.

Any comments or ideas would be most helpful. Thanks!
Rose of Sharon grows just fine in your area, maybe you got a weak one. Find
some more and plant them in May, feed them some 10-10-10 and put a layer of
mulch around them in October. Check out the Parks site or your local
nursery for something called a perennial hibiscus, only name I know. It has
large red (6" dia) flowers that form seed pods and it easy to grow. Look
for anything in okra.

Rose-of -Sharons have a number of insect problems. Also leaf spots can marr
foliage, Japanese beetles love this shrub and chew up the leaves, also rust,
cankers, and blights can sometimes be problematic. Supplemental watering in
droughts, and newer disease resistant cultivars help reduce these problems.
These plants tend to persist for decades in the garden despite insect and
disease problems, encroaching shade, neglect, etc. The older cultivars also
have quite a reputation for be weedy and seeding themselves around,
sometimes being quite a nuisance. Donald Egolf's newer cultivars (the
'Greek Goddess series') are triploids (having 3 sets of chromosomes) and are
sterile or nearly so, so besides having very large and showy flowers, they
do not seed around like the older cultivars.

As I said, Donald Egolf of the Arboretum has introduced several triploid
cultivars that rarely if ever produce seed so they do not have the weed
problems of other old fashioned cultivars. The flowers are also
particularly large and showy, blooming over a long period. 'The Greek
Goddess's series'.
'Diana' - Triploid form with 3 sets of chromosomes), sterile with large
pristine white flowers that remain open at night so great for evening
gardens, sets very few seeds (Dirr thinks this is a "wimpy" form); but there
are very handsome full bodied specimens that are quite showy and attractive
even semi-so in winter.
'Helene' - another triploid, white flowers with reddish-purple blush at
base, not much fruit.
'Minerva' - June - Sept. heavy bloom, lustrous foliage, 8.5' tall, erect
growing form, lavender flowers with pink tones, and dark red eye. Triploid.
'Aphrodite' - erect, upright form to 8.5 - 9' tall with dark pink flowers
with a red eye, although a triploid, Dirr has observed rather heavy seed set
in his garden and is not impressed with this one.

Dave

"Natty_Dread" wrote in message
...
Hi gardeners -- I'm in Alexandria, VA and would like to grow a hibiscus in
my yard, parts of which get very good sun most of the year. I'm looking
for
any feedback from folks in my area about your experiences growing hibiscus
outside. I planted a Rose of Sharon a few years ago that died the first
winter I planted it, so I'm wondering if it's possible to grow hibiscus as
a
perennial here or if I just killed the plant with my rudimentary gardening
skills.

Any comments or ideas would be most helpful. Thanks!


**************
Basic psychology is one of my subroutines.

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Natty_Dread wrote:

Any comments or ideas would be most helpful. Thanks!

There are Hibiscus cultivars out there that are hardy in our area.
These are NOT to be confused with the tropical kind that are not hardy.
Last year, I planted a Hibiscus 'Crown Jewels', and it did great,
putting on a lot of growth and a dozen or so flowers. From what I
understand, they're late to break dormancy, and I haven't seen any sign
of it yet. Plant Delights Nursery has a pretty decent selection that
you might want to look into:
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog...nt/page39.html

Suja