Home
Site Map

Annuals
Perennials
Shrubs
Trees
Bulbs
Pottery
Summer Gardening
Fall Gardening
Winter Gardening
Spring Gardening
Gardening Tips
Blooming Houseplants
Helpful Links

Reiger Begonia
Pentas
Petunia
Regal Geranium
Zinnia

Hibiscus
Malvaceae

More than 200 species of annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees that are both hardy and tender belong to the Hibiscus family. The Tropical Hibiscus is a beautiful tropical plant with funnel-shaped flowers, which are usually about 4-6 inches in diameter. In Plant Hardiness Zones 8-11, it can be grown year round outdoors with minimal care. The Tropical Hibiscus should be fertilized from mid-February through April if grown outside.

Tropical Hibiscus come in a variety of colors ranging from pink to orange to even yellow. They also come in single blooms (picture to the left) and double blooms (picture to the right). The plants also come in bush form and in tree form. They make excellent patio and container plants for the summer garden.

Modest pruning is all that is required when the plant is outdoors year round. When doing your pruning, keep in mind that flowers grow only on new growth, not on old wood. When it stops bearing flowers, it is going through its yearly dormant period.

In Plant Hardiness Zones 4-7, the Tropical Hibiscus can summer outdoors in full sun or partial shade from late May to late September. It will more than likely require watering every day and should be fertilized bi-weekly. Make sure that you move the plant indoors before danger of frost in the fall.

The Hardy Hibiscus, Disco Belle (picture to the left) and Lord Baltimore are perennials ranging from 4-8 feet in height and forming 3-foot wide clumps. The Hardy Hibiscus bears ovate to lance-shaped, shallowly lobed leaves and funnel-shaped 8-10 inch-wide flowers in the summer. The flowers come in red, pink, bi-color, and white. The Disco Belle is a more compact Hardy Hibiscus, which is 2- to 2-1/2-foot tall. Disco Belle plants bear 9-inch wide flowers and the plants are generally 4-feet tall.

Perennials

Black-eyed Susan
Butterfly Bush
Chrysanthemum
Croscosmia
Daylilies
Epimedium
Helleborus
Japanese Anemone

Annuals

Reiger Begonia
Cabbage and Kale
Lunaria
Pentas
Petunia
Regal Geranium
Vinca
Zinnia