In the interest of making up for yesterday's hideous Phalaenopsis photo, I thought I'd blow y'all's minds with something super-purty today. So, some NOID Hibiscus flowers:
Personally, I'd be happier with Hibiscus if the flowers didn't turn into used kleenex and drop all over the place as soon as the plant's done with them (I have a similar bone to pick with Petunia), but that isn't to say I don't like looking at them.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Pretty pictures: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
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7 comments:
Those are so lovely. But on a scale of 1-10, how easy are these to grow? I used to see them all over the place in the stores, but I don't see them much now. They must be waiting for Christmas.
On my 0-10 scale, they come in somewhere in the low to mid 7s: 7.2, 7.6, something like that. Pests, underwatering, light, propagation, humidity, temperature, grooming, and feeding are all more problematic than for most plants, though I'm unclear about how bad they actually are with humidity and propagation.
The colors are exquisite! Lovely.
Beautiful flowers!
I think I can help with the humidity and propagation questions. I've had two hibiscus for slightly more than a year. Mine don't seem to care about humidity. I don't use any humidity-raising methods (no misting, no pebble tray, no humidifier, no nothin') and they did fine with my average household humidity for the eight months they spent indoors.
Propagation is apparently difficult. After pruning last year, I made several cuttings (at least eight). I used rooting hormone, inserted them in plastic cups with moist perlite/vermiculite mixture, placed the cups in large plastic jars to keep them in a humid environment. I put them under fluorescent lights. In other words, I gave those cutting every advantage I could think of, except for bottom heat. Not a single one rooted.
Personally, I think the number one issue with them is light. I probably wouldn't have tried them if I wasn't in a position to put them outdoors for the summer. Otherwise, I haven't found them particular fussy. I love houseplants, but not ones I have to fuss over too much.
Of couse, if they don't do well indoors their second winter, I'll have to eat my words.
Reminds me of the year we lived in Hawaii. One of my favorite things about walking to work every day was the year-round hibiscus show.
Very pretty, but I won't give up my hardy hibiscus plants to baby the tropicals. Still, they are always a temptation.
Beautiful Hibiscus flowers...I love this hibiscus flowers as it is one of my garden plant.I also have taken some shots of these flowers and posted in my blog.
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