Hibiscus; again
 

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

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

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.

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. :bowdown:

Boomer

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? :1rotfl:

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 :beer3:

hibiscus failing
 

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.