My first hibiscus flower!

[pfara]

I was totally excited when the hibiscus that I grew from seed a few months ago finally flowered. This was my first time growing it and the first time my little reds had a hibiscus flower. Thought I'd share with the only people who might appreciate both gardening and torts!

 

[Tom]

Wow. That's a nice one.

 

[wellington]

I looooooove that first pic. Toooo cute. The flower towers him. Congrats. They are beautiful flowers. I have pink ones, I don't get to enjoy them though, picked as soon as fully opened.

 

[Jabuticaba]

Beautiful hibiscus! And what a cute little tort! [TURTLE]

 

[Jlant85]

lol your tort looks lost. got that look of "what am i supposed to do with this?!" look. adorable.

 

[dwright27]

Very nice! My hibiscus was doing well for a little while this summer once I got it outside, but it seems to have gone dormant again. My little dude hasn't had a flower but he does enjoy the occasional leaf!

 

[pfara]

Thanks for all the awesome replies! Yesterday, that bloom was the size of a half dollar. Next thing I knew, it exploded up to about 6". Needless to say, I was pretty blown away with the hibiscus compared to all the other plants that have flowered for me.

And Jlant, he really was lost at first.. but only for a split second. One curious bite and that plant was a goner. I didn't see how many of my reds tried it but when I went to check on all of them 30 minutes later, there was nothing but stem left. I'm glad I love my torts more than that hibiscus, cuz it was completely slaughtered lol.

 

[thatrebecca]

Beautiful! (The tort and the the flower). The hibiscus I planted this summer has only had two blooms so far, but my torts are loving the leaves. I'm hoping for more blooms soon. The mature plants in my neighbors' yards have a bazillion flowers right now. Our rose of sharon has been going crazy too.

 

[pfara]

Beautiful! (The tort and the the flower). The hibiscus I planted this summer has only had two blooms so far, but my torts are loving the leaves. I'm hoping for more blooms soon. The mature plants in my neighbors' yards have a bazillion flowers right now. Our rose of sharon has been going crazy too.

Do your neighbors spray their plants? If not, I'd go over there like a crazy person and ask them if I could "help prune" them I got 3 out of 6 hibiscus seeds to germinate and each plant has about 3-4 buds on them so far. I'd feed my guys the leaves but there's not too much that the plants could spare. I'd like to see them get bigger and bushier but we'll see if I can keep them alive long enough. I have rose of sharon that I started around the same time, too. I hope I have as much success as you with your rose of sharons! Thanks

 

[thatrebecca]

Beautiful! (The tort and the the flower). The hibiscus I planted this summer has only had two blooms so far, but my torts are loving the leaves. I'm hoping for more blooms soon. The mature plants in my neighbors' yards have a bazillion flowers right now. Our rose of sharon has been going crazy too.

Do your neighbors spray their plants? If not, I'd go over there like a crazy person and ask them if I could "help prune" them I got 3 out of 6 hibiscus seeds to germinate and each plant has about 3-4 buds on them so far. I'd feed my guys the leaves but there's not too much that the plants could spare. I'd like to see them get bigger and bushier but we'll see if I can keep them alive long enough. I have rose of sharon that I started around the same time, too. I hope I have as much success as you with your rose of sharons! Thanks

Yeah my husband has been telling me to quit de-nuding our baby hibiscus plants of their few leaves and go ask the neighbors for some of theirs. Why not? Their dogs are always pooping on our lawn, so it only seems fair that they should help feed our torts.

 

[dwright27]

I approve of this. lol
At some point maybe I'll get more hibiscus but they're expensive here and of course I don't live where I can keep them outside all year