Which Hibiscus to buy

[ScottishFish]

I want to grow some hibiscus for my Hermann, however there are loads to choose from. Heres some screenshots from ebay of what I can get. Which should I buy?



Thanks guys.


'Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white, then melts forever'
~Robert Burns - Tam O' Shanter

0.0.1 Testudo hermanni boettgeri

 

[Jacqui]

Start by which kind of hibscus do you want.

TROPICAL- these are the ones who have the more showy blooms, but are not cold hardy.

HARDY- these are the ones which in cold climates will come back up from the ground each late spring and have huge papery blooms.

BUSHES- this would be the Rose of Sharon or Althea. It's a cold hardy bush which comes back in the spring upon last year's growth. Lots of small blooms all summer/fall long.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I grow tropical but that's because I'm in so Cal.

Read up on which ones will do good in your area first.

Happy growing!

 

[ScottishFish]

Well My climate will mean that hardy and a cooler growing species.



'Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white, then melts forever'
~Robert Burns - Tam O' Shanter

0.0.1 Testudo hermanni boettgeri

 

[jhongsen]

well in Indonesia I only could find something similar like musk mallow hibiscus (i don't know the species name)

 

[Itort]

The two that would probably be good H. moscheutos (rosemallow or hardy) and H. syriacus (rose of sharon). The hardy will dieback to ground level in fall but comes back in spring. The rose of sharon is a bush. My advice is based on my experiences living in an area averaging below freezing and sometimes -20 degrees F in winter.

 

[Jacqui]

Of the two, I would really go with the Rose of Sharon/Althea types. Reasoning is they will (once established) grow to be nice bushes that produce a huge amount of smaller blooms. The hardy seems to have a shorter bloom time and fewer blooms (but each bloom is large). If you get the hardy one, do not panic in the spring when it does not come up. These plants take what feels like forever to finally come up long after all the other plants have.

 

[ScottishFish]

I have ordered rose of sharon, and a couple of others to try out, as you can see the prices aint really breaking the bank!!

Do the torts eat the flowers, leaves, or both?


'Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white, then melts forever'
~Robert Burns - Tam O' Shanter

0.0.1 Testudo hermanni boettgeri

 

[Jacqui]

They can eat both. Mine tend to prefer the blooms. Most of mine aren't big fans of the hardy one, but my sulcatas love those huge blooms.

 

[Itort]

I too prefer the rose of sharon but the hardy has very large impressive flowers. Also when planting either in enclosure you will need to protect rose of sharon for first few years until it developed good woody stems and the hardy types stem permanently as the torts will eat or trample the soft parts.

 

[Blakem]

The rose of Sharon can get pretty big, so plan on space for it.

 

[ScottishFish]

I will be growing everything in the garden, of which has lots of space! How much light do Hibiscus require? The garden is south facing however there is a 5ft brick wall on oneside making a shaded area up until midday. If they arent high light demand I might aswell make use of it.


'Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white, then melts forever'
~Robert Burns - Tam O' Shanter

0.0.1 Testudo hermanni boettgeri

 

[luvpetz27]

I have several Rose of Sharons. They do get huge but you can trim them back. That is what I do. I love them! They do spread though. We only started with one and now they are everywhere!! They are gorgeous!

Good luck!!

 

[Itort]

That should be fine as half a day (especially at your latitude ).

 

[ScottishFish]

Excellent, I should have several types of Hibiscus planted in the next week to ten days. How long do you guys reckon it will take until I get some tort ready Hibiscus?


'Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white, then melts forever'
~Robert Burns - Tam O' Shanter

0.0.1 Testudo hermanni boettgeri

 

[Itort]

If the young plants are protected, by the end of summer and next year for sure.

 

[LeopardTortLover]

This thread is great. Ive been looking for hibiscus plants and seeds for weeks! Cant find them in any shops anywhere. Im going to get a rose of sharon as I live in a cold and rainy area. But will be planting them indoors as seeds and then in a greenhouse as flowers.

 

[Angi]

Interesting thread. I moved 6 months ago and had to plant Hibiscus. I can't belive the person I bought from didn't have any . I planted about 6 or 8 and what I learned (the hard way ) is they die in the shade. I live in San Diego and I had never had a spot in my yard that didn't get LOTS of sun. I guess I had bought only tropical. Anyway I am now going to look for the hardier ones to plant on my shady hill. Thanks for the great info!