.

Hibiscus Gardens Around the World

Miramar, Florida, U.S.A.



Hibiscus line Gil's driveway in his south Florida home.

This is the hibiscus garden of Gil who lives in southern Florida. Hibiscus love the humid heat of southern Florida, and you can see how well they thrive in Gil's garden. There is one problem with this otherwise heavenly hibiscus climate though - it rains too much! Gil tried growing hibiscus in the ground, but the rain drowned the plants, or they got root diseases from being constantly soggy. So Gil switched to growing hibiscus above the ground in pots, and has had huge success ever since, as his pictures show.



Gil uses a drip system that he installed himself to water his hibiscus. The drip system ensures even watering on a schedule that Gil can change with the seasons, and saves him the trouble of having to water by hand. Drip systems are the most water-saving type of irrigation systems, using much less water than sprinklers, soakers, or hand-watering. A huge collection of plants in pots on a drip system use less water than a sprinkler system watering a single lawn. In Florida where water is plentiful, Gil is more concerned about his hibiscus not getting too much water, and a drip system perfectly fits that bill too since the amount of water can be tightly controlled, and the flip of a switch turns off the system on rainy days.



Gil uses pots that are 25 inches in diameter and hold about 25 gallons of potting soil. They're HUGE! He tried smaller pots, but in Florida's heat they needed watering 2-3 times per day. So he switched to these giant pots. He fills the pots with 3 different hibiscus plants, which helps him find room for his very large hibiscus collection.



Gil's 'Togetherness' hibiscus plant

Most of us in other places work hard to find or mix potting soils that hold onto moisture, but Gil has the opposite problem in Florida where it commonly rains 1-3 inches in a single hour. So he uses a potting soil that is 90% peat moss and 10% perlite content because this mix dries out very quickly. Before he used this quick-drying soil, he struggled with root diseases caused by roots standing in soggy soil for weeks at a time. With this soil that dries so quickly and above-ground pots that quickly drain the water out, he has been very successful growing big, beautiful hibiscus, as you can see!


Gil's photos speak for themselves! His hibiscus are clearly healthy and happy!



Gil's 'Sea Spray' hibiscus plant

Gil's 'Vin Eléctrique' hibiscus plant

Gil is also a freelance photographer. You can see more of his photography at gilphoto.com. We thank Gil for sharing his photography and his hibiscus garden with us! Enjoy his wonderful collection!



Gil's 'Love Sonnet' hibiscus flowers


Gil's 'Mountain Mist' hibiscus flowers


Gil's 'Confection Perfection' hibiscus flowers


Gil's 'Wild Allure' hibiscus flowers


Gil's 'Mother Nature' hibiscus flowers


Gil's 'Pinot Noir' hibiscus flowers


Gil's 'Fifi' hibiscus flowers

 

Back to WORLD HIBISCUS GARDENS main page