They are the most exotic of all the flowers I grow. The ephemeral frilled flowers with their lacy curved-back petals and their dangling stamens certainly don't look as though they belong in Texas. And don't be fooled by their dangling over my water feature. The plant is in a pot and barely 2 years old.
The first time I came across the plant was in a greenhouse at the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens in Grand Junction, Colorado. Then again in the garden of a San Antonio friend. She very kindly brought me two cuttings both of which took. I overwinter the plants in the garage where they remain semi evergreen. As they bloom on short spurs on last years wood pruning must be kept to a minimum. One plant I pruned to a single trunk and the other has three long stems arising from the base. . Every day new blooms open and bring a little touch of the exotic to my garden.
At 2:30 pm the temperature outside is 96º F and with the humidity feels like 109ºF.
I saw this plant in a catalog and dog-eared the page. It's a gorgeous thing. But, although we get hot, we don't get your humidity and I'm afraid it wouldn't last long enough to bloom even once. I'll need to make do with seeing it on your blog. I hope you get a break on the heat and humidity soon! It's too early for that.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is always a delight! What a lovely pop of color! Nice to know something is enjoying this weather...even some of my native plants are looking stressed, not to mention the garden. Sure would be nice to have a “cold front” move in and drop the temps back to the low 90’s again. Gotta love Texas weather!
ReplyDeleteYour garden was so wonderful to visit on the Fling. I felt fortunate to see it in person!
ReplyDeleteI've actually seen that Hibiscus here growing in an overgrown hellstrip garden, ignored and thriving, but obviously well watered, as it would not survive here otherwise.
What a fabulous flower! Yours looks like it's in shade in your garden. Can it do full sun like other hibiscus?
ReplyDelete