Hardy Hibiscus

[Paulo]

I am looking for hardy Hibiscus (Toronto, ZOne 5B) I was searching on the intternet but i couldnt find much about hardy hibiscus, if somebody can help me out....

Also, i have na indoor hibiscus and I dont know if it is a hardy variety, is it any way i cna find out without risking the plant? ( I mean, i dont wanna leave it outside during winter to see if was or not...) It was flowering non stop during summer time, and even when i moved the pot indoors did not stop flowering for few more month

THanks

[Cereus-validus.....]

Hibiscus is a very large genus. Which type of hardy Hibiscus are you looking for? Annual, perennial or shrub?

If you are growing a shrubby tropical Hibiscus indoors, you can be sure that it is not cold hardy, especially in Toronto.

[Paulo]

Well, i think i should learn morea bout hibiscus, i didnt know about annual hibiscus. I am looking for a shrub type.

Paulo

[Marley1372]

There are several species of hibiscus, but in general, "hardy hibiscus" or perennial hibiscus is the name used here in the midwest for 2 different species of herbaceous hibiscus- Hibiscus moscheutos, and H. coccineus. Both are sold at nurseries everywhere as perennial hibiscus, though H. moscheutos is much more common. Hibiscus syriacus, which is a hardy woody shrub, is also extremely common here and is usually sold under the name "rose of sharon" or "althea". Your indoor plant is most likely a variety of the tropical Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. It can be confusing sometimes, and this is a perfect example of why using common names for plants is not usually an effective way of identifying them.

Toad

[Hemmaholic]

Paulo,

If you do a search for Hibiscus moscheutos you should get several hits. Use the Google search engine for best results.

Hemma

[Newt]

[e-mail] I am looking for hardy Hibiscus (Toronto, ZOne 5B) I was searching on the intternet but i couldnt find much about hardy hibiscus, if somebody can help me out....

Also, i have na indoor hibiscus and I dont know if it is a hardy variety, is it any way i cna find out without risking the plant? ( I mean, i dont wanna leave it outside during winter to see if was or not...) It was flowering non stop during summer time, and even when i moved the pot indoors did not stop flowering for few more month

THanks

-- Paulo[/QUOTE Wrote:

-- Newt

[Paulo]

Thanks Hemma

[Leon Trollski]

This is hard to find, are there any comments or suggestions on this species?

[paghat]

If it's hard to find in your local nurseries, might it be because it isn't suited to your area? Around Puget Sound it is a standard nursery offering, though not this early in the year, the nurseries like to get them in summer bloom, so available around June. When they start flowering they keep doing it until early autumn.

In my zone they are very easy deciduous shrubs, exceedintgly flowerful for the xeriscape (low water) garden in fullest sun. There are fully fertile cultivars of which probably 'Blue Bird' is the standard, & it will self-seed all over tarnation:

National Arboretum released a series of sterile cultivars which are more compact, very good shrubs; I have one of those, 'Aphrodite': theory they can be grown down to Zone 5 but I suspect they would be more sensitive below Zone 7; in zones 7-9 they're impervious shrubs, & among my favorites.

They make good xeriscape companions with Lavetera tree mallows, which in our zone are almost evergreen. Most tree-mallows no matter the cultivar look pretty much like this one:

'Burgundy Wine' is smaller than average & some can get quite large, & ther is a golden-leafed variety which stands out from the crowd, in the main tree mallows don't have a wide range of flower type. But if one looks far & wide, can eventually find forms with flowers other than some shade of dark purply-pink, like this extremely pale 'Barnsley': the ratgirl