[BritParrothead]

Hi All,
Wonder if any one can help me here?

Last spring I bought 2 new hibiscus plants, called NewBiscus. They are specially grown for northern Europe, mainly England. They will have flowers up to 12 inches across and be the most beautiful shade of pink.

Well last year we had no summer just rain, rain and even more rain. Most of the buds just fell.

The woody part of the plant seemed to die off during the winter, even though the growers said I could leave them out in all weathers even, frost and snow!!

I uprooted them this weekend, and the roots look very healthy, so have cut back the dead wood and re-planted them in new pots.

Do you think they will come back to life? Or are they gone for good?

[Talk Host]

MY two hibisucs trees froze to death this past winter. I chopped them off to the ground. Now, tons of new shoots are starting up and will be in full fashion in a couple of months.

JLK

[BritParrothead]

After my last post, I had a good look at my sorry looking plants, and cut a bit more from them!
Fed them and put a plastic watter bottle over them, a little like a cloche. They now both have tiny little bright green shoots coming. I am so happy about this. I do hope they grow and flower for this summer.

[SteveFromNY]

Like Talk Host, we had one freeze apparently to death as well, only to begin growing again.

[BritParrothead]

My hibiscus plants are now behaving very strangely. One is just about 12 inches tall, the other about 3 feet tall. The biggest has lots of leaves and looks really good, the other not so much. No sign of any buds or flowers yet.
They are both treated the same, fed and watered at same time! Plenty of sun too.
Any ideas, anyone??

[golf2140]

I have a black thumb. Ours come back year after year. Just cut them back in the spring and add water. They will be fine.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by BritParrothead

My hibiscus plants are now behaving very strangely. One is just about 12 inches tall, the other about 3 feet tall. The biggest has lots of leaves and looks really good, the other not so much. No sign of any buds or flowers yet.
They are both treated the same, fed and watered at same time! Plenty of sun too.
Any ideas, anyone??

Good morning, BritParrothead,

I just cannot resist a conversation about gardening. Even though you are in England and I am in Ohio and most of the readers here are in Florida, we gardeners tend to pick right up and talk about this stuff.

Now, about those two plants of yours, I cannot give advice specific to hibiscus. But when you said what you said about how you have treated them both the same, giving them all the attention they need, I just have to say that brought to mind "Nature vs. Nurture."

Nature vs. Nurture??????

Well, at risk of sounding like I am completely bonkers, that question applies to plants just like it applies to people. It remains a mystery in a lot of cases.

I am the mother of an only child, Boomette, and so I cannot apply the question directly, but I know so many people who have kids who have all been treated exactly the same and yet those kids are so different. Some overachievers, alongside siblings who drive their parents nuts trying to figure out what's going on. They have all been treated the same. Same house. Close in age. Same routines. All that stuff.

The point is, I think you have a case of Nature with that hibiscus that is behaving badly. But it sounds like it is showing a little potential. So maybe patience will pay off and time will give you the reward. But who knows? Just like with kids.

There is a parallel that I see between what we see with gardening and with human nature, er nurture, er nature??? Ohhh, you know what I mean.

And, btw, BritParrothead, I have to digress here........ I just have to say that you Brits are the gardening masters. And you gave the world that wonderful English cottage garden style, with its under plantings and its colors, and its incomparable look that might appear to be a little wild sometimes but knows exactly what it's after. I try so hard in my Cincinnati yard to make it look like the English do in those cottage-style gardens.

Boomer

[swrinfla]

Dear Brit:

My two hibiscus were frost zapped two winters ago, but came back amazingly. But our five or six freezes this past winter did them in completely, and they have been torn out entirely. Although I'll miss their blooms, I've just had Oak Leaf Hollies installed in their place. This is a relatively new cultivar which looks great and shouldn't be bothered by the occasional freeze.

Considering where you are, might one of your hibiscus (hibisci?) have its feet in the Channel, and the other not?

I agree with Boomer's observation about the innate ability of you folks to grow anything! My late wife's cousin, now also gone a long time, retired to just outside of Lyme Regis from Yorkshire ages and ages ago. There he created his own arboretum with plants from all over the world, including a couple or three palm trees from Florida!

SWR

[BritParrothead]

Originally Posted by swrinfla

Dear Brit:
Considering where you are, might one of your hibiscus (hibisci?) have its feet in the Channel, and the other not?

I agree with Boomer's observation about the innate ability of you folks to grow anything! My late wife's cousin, now also gone a long time, retired to just outside of Lyme Regis from Yorkshire ages and ages ago. There he created his own arboretum with plants from all over the world, including a couple or three palm trees from Florida!

SWR

How spooky! I originally come from Yorkshire and live about 35 miles from Lyme Regis!! I was there 2 weeks ago!!
Our stretch of the south coast is on the Gulf Stream, so I can stand in the sea, with one leg in hot water and one in cold water!! (seriously) We had 3 palm trees in our last homes front garden!! The public gardens in our town are full of palm trees.
Thanks for all the advice. We will be over in The Villages in November, so look out for a really tall guy and a really short wife!!

I will have to have a good talking to with my plants

[BritParrothead]

Well, another year of disapointment!
I had about 12 buds on the large plant (nothing on the small one) and slowly over the past 2 weeks they have started to die and fall off! I now have one large bud left, so am not holding my breath waiting for it to flower
When will it be the right time to cut it back?

[BritParrothead]

Hi Guys, me again
My very strange hibiscus has at last produced a flower!! Just one. A very nice pink it is too. Now I suppose I just have to watch the darn thing die on me again??
Should I cut it back before the frost comes, or leave it to nature?

[mulligan]

I learned from a former boss who grew up on the mississippi delta that the hibiscus is a second cousin to the cotton plant. Certain lawn chemicals can cause a boron deficiency, and the application of epsom salts to the ground around the plants solves the problem. I had this issue on several condo properties I managed, and his solution worked well.