TRADITIONAL HOME, May 2000, PAGES 52-57
KNOCK-YOUR-SOCKS-OFF HIBISCUS (3d page)
By Elvin McDonald
spurred new growth and more flowers. Today's passion for summer tropicals outdoors has cinched their all-around appeal.
To share these spectacular plants with the readers of Traditional Home, Black has picked eight cultivars that measure up. "These are Chinese hibiscus, all grafted, with large, sophisticated blooms, that can be grown successfully for a season in six-inch pots. They have a compact habit without use of the growth-retardant chemicals often used on commercial hibiscus, yet the plants are vigorous enough for the amateur to enjoy growing them." After a season in the smaller pot, Black recommends moving them to a 3-gallon or 10-inch pot, where they can be maintained indefinitely. "To bloom well, they need some hours of direct sun and temperatures in the sixties at night and warmer during the day," he advises.
During warm weather, hibiscus thrive on generous amounts of water. Never let them become so dry the leaves wilt, as this will result in bud loss, but also do not leave the pots standing in water. Black recommends using a timed-release fertilizer with an NPK formulation of 10-5-15 or 17-5-23. These ratios are different from the 5-10-5 or 15-30-15 usually used on flowering plants. The middle number, which represents phosphorus, should be low in relation to the nitrogen (first number) and potash (third number) so as not to lock up the manganese from the hibiscus roots, the effect of which would be to cause chlorosis, or yellowing of the leaves.
If you want to use Chinese hibiscus as cut flowers, they last longer if they are picked just as the ballooning buds are about to pop open, then placed indoors away from direct sun and high temperatures. "We've found with the newer cultivars that the buds can simply be laid loosely in a tray and kept in a cool, shady spot," Black says. "Sprinkle a little water over them once or twice daily, and they can fully open for display up to four days later. Sometimes it helps if you use your fingers to gently coax them open." Standing these amazing flowers in water does not extend their life, a fact that frees them for decorative effect in the hair, on a table, or among the leaves of a tree.
F0R 0UR READERS 0NLY
Chinese Hibiscus Collections
We invite you to try these two collections of extraordinary Chinese hibiscus, chosen especially for the readers of Traditional Home magazine by Charles Black of Hidden Valley Hibiscus, Escondido, California.
COLLECTION ONE: Connoisseur's Choices features one each of 'Bonnie B.' (8- to 10-inch single blooms in bronze and gold), 'Red Snapper' (8-inch double blooms in red and white), 'Jazz' (6-inch single blooms in yellow/oran6e with an iridescent band of metallic silver around the eye), and 'Wheel of Fortune' (8-inch single blooms opening in shades of lavender and red, then changing to pink and silver).
COLLECTION TWO: Top-Rated Cultivars features one each of 'Rainbow Christie' (8- to 10-inch single blooms with striking dark eye, pink body, and a wide cream-white, border), 'High Voltage' (8-inch single satiny white blooms with bright red eyes that "bleed" out into the white), 'Fifth Dimension' (6- to 87-inch single blooms in gunmetal gray with orange/yellow edge and white rays from the red center), and 'Amber Suzanne' (8-inch double blooms in pink and white).