This is a very messy-looking picture of the front garden, showing some of the red hibiscuses this morning. There was a car parked at the edge of the road so I couldn't stand far enough back to get a good shot. You can see that I go for the 'abundant plants' look! :-) One thing that particularly has me gritting my teeth this summer is that a large number of the clematises came down with wilt at the end of July. The arbour should be nicely covered in green foliage with a few late flowers by now, and the tall obelisk is more brown that green at the moment too :-( !!

'Fireball' is my favorite red one. Here's a different view of it - you can see the grass path between the 'moat bed' and the main front bed in this picture. (The path is not visible in the first picture because I'm standing too close to the moat bed so, in the first picture, it just merges into the big bed behind it.)

'Fireball' has leaves a bit like a cutleaf Japanese maple as you can see in this closer view:

The other two reds in the front bed are 'Lord Baltimore'

and 'Luna Red'

The pink Disco Belles are still going strong too and they play quite happily with the reds:

What are your favorite reds of late summer....?

I also love 'Summer Storm.' It has the best foliage of them all to me. It isn't a red flower, but it has red center with streaks of red.

Here is my 'Midnight Marvel.'

They have been blooming around the city here for over a month now, mine is red.......EXCEPT actually the flowers only start out that way then turn black by the time they try to open but never quite get there. Maybe you can help since you look to be an expert.

I have it planted close to where the air conditioner drain is which means the soil is always moist there since it runs every day & night. So, do they like it dry or what? Last year it was closer to the drain, did the same turning black thing, so I moved it a couple feet further away this spring.

The soil itself doesn't feel sloppy wet or anything like that and the plant itself looks very healthy, that is except for the fact that I noticed it getting white flies now. I don't usually have those either except indoors. I am about an eyelash away from pulling the whole plant. Its an unknown type with large red flowers and heart shaped leaves, I got the seed from plants here at the History Museum. Any thoughts? Advice?

J.

TR10 - do you know what kind your hibiscus is? Is it the Texas Star one or the same hardy hibiscuses (which I gather are usually a sort of mixed-bag hybrid....) as I grow? I gather the Texas Star one likes wet conditions, but I know zilch about it! Most sources say hardy hibiscus like 'average to moist' soil. Mine get no supplemental water - but that undoubtedly means they get more water here from rain than yours would. I basically ignore them - until they bloom! Then they need the faded flowers pulled off regularly (sort of like daylilies the flowers need regular cleaning off as they fade - but the flowers come off nice and easy with a gentle tug as you pass by the clump....), and the seed capsules need removing while they are still green in order to prevent seeding around. The individual flowers only last a day or two but the buds are produced over a long period. Are the flowers on yours close enough to the air conditioner that the hot air is sort of roasting the flowers before they have a chance to open fully? Do any of them open? The faded flowers of my red ones do turn blackish - in your extreme heat, maybe they are opening early in the early morning and then roasting by the same afternoon?! In my garden these are tough, easy-care plants and not the fussy divas that one might expect from their showy appearance. I'm far from an expert since I just plant them and more or less ignore them :-) If your problems are due to your local conditions, perhaps the best thing is stop in a a local garden that has them growing well and ask if they know what your problem might be. Maybe they need to be sited in a particular sort of way to cope with your extreme heat....?

I am suspecting its too simply too wet there, after typing it out I am even more convinced because its the only "off" or untypical thing I can think of. I've decided to look at the black flowers for the rest of the season & move it to a completely different spot next year rather than pull it out since its now a 2yr old plant even if it is producing what looks like huge ugly raisons, its quite a bloomer at that, making it all the more frustrating.

The parent plants are fine at the History Museum, quite nice actually, so I know they grow well here. All I can tell you is big red flowers about 3" across, heart shaped leaves and red stems, as I said its from a seed pod I got from the H. M. in 2012

Thank you for the response. Again, your flowers are very nice.

Annette

The leaves of my various pink ones:

The flowers that relate to them:

The 'mother' plant - the first one I purchased many years ago... I have been assuming it was Disco Belle but, thinking of Annette's comment above, I did some checking. I think these may be Southern Belle instead - according to sources like the Missouri Botanical Garden, Disco Belles are 2-2.5' tall while Southern Belles are 4-6'. My pink ones are in the 3-4' range so they fall somewhere in between but I'm guessing that perhaps it is more likely they are short Southern Belles than tall Disco Belles... So I really can't say for certain which kind of Belles these are! But, Annette, if you could find true Disco Belles, they are most likely to fit in your garden (which, from the pictures you've posted in the past, never looked small to me!)

Most of the seedlings I've grown have come true to the mother plant in color and size/leaf shape. BUT there have been exceptions whose leaves are different in varying degrees and the flowers substantially different.

Deep pink, huge flowers with more crinkly petals:

Pale pink with no pink eye:

In the background, you can see one of the faded flowers that need to be pulled off!

This dark pink one appeared in the garden near the Fireballs last year. I never planted a pink one there so this may be a stray seedling....!

I find the differences in the red hibiscuses to be most notable in the leaves, so I haven't included the matching flower pictures for the reds.

Luna Red is the one that stands out as must be from a different parent line that the other more maple-leaf-shaped ones! It looks like it maybe came from the same heritage as my pink ones.

TR10 - given my experience with the variability of seedlings vs. mother plant, it would be interesting to see if your seedling varies from its mother plant. While I started with a variety and maybe yours is a true species, I'm guessing that the wide variation in available varieties would also mean the underlying species are highly variable too. In any case, I'm interested in hearing whether you solve your 'black flower' problem by relocating it, or what you might learn from talking to others who grow them successfully in your area. (While your conditions may be 'normal' to you, they are certainly 'extreme' in comparison to my conditions, so I have to wonder whether a plant that grows well here perhaps needs to be sited differently there - or need different soil or some other condition... It would be interesting to see if seeds of my plants would grow there or whether you need seeds from locally adapted plants. Want some of my seeds....?)

BTW - my question re late summer reds in the first post was not meant to be limited to hibiscuses - what other late-summer-reds do you have in your garden? The other red here that charms me is the viburnum berries that turn a bright red just as the hibiscuses are flowering. The red berries are most visible though once the leaves drop off in the fall but it's still a nice color harmony with the hibiscuses when you're close enough to see both together. I wouldn't mind adding more reds (if I can find a space for some!) and would like to see what works for others.....

There are malvacea that aren't hibiscus that hate wet feet ;) And probably equally several hibiscus that I don't know about that feel the same way.

I'm just concerned that if I do, the little buggers will magically reappear.

Much to my surprise, there was a very-close-to-blue variety in our local nursery 2 yrs ago. I bought 3 and put them all in diff spots. They all seem very happy, but the happiest is the one that gets the most sun. I have it next to one of our MANY golden conifers, and a zebra grass. YAY! I do have a question about it, as many of you are experts w/ them and i certainly am not. Mine is pretty tall (5-6') and i was wondering-- can i keep it cut down a bit, and will that cause heavier flowering? Anyone tried this? Mine is narrow and tall and i would like it lower and bushier-like the one in the linked video. when should i do this and/or prune it ? thx for the inspiration, all of you! I am amazed and perplexed that with a plant that has such a rep for being a JB magnet, i see NO damage on any of your plants!? (Btw, there were almost no JB here the last 2 yrs.)

uh oh i think i just realized that i am not posting about a red plant. sorry. If rudbeckia Cherry Brandy is hardy for you, that would make an interesting partner for your wonderful red ROS, because of its 3 colors, all in the same family. and maybe Gaillardia? My Bluebird was blooming the last 2 months , along w/ daylilies. you might consider some true red d.l. like Chicago Apache or, better yet, a yellow and red bi-color d.l. (I often go to Oakes DL to look through their photos.) Also- Crocosmia Lucifer.

How about some contrast, w/ blue foliage (Blue Shadow fothergilla) or ppl foliage (berberis or cotinus or sambucus [there's a new narrow vertical one at Broken Arrow called Black Tower! ])