Sleeping Beauty

[kris]

Hey Ya'll.  I wanted to get some feedback about this interesting cultivar.  I got a 6' sleeping beauty back in august, covered in buds and opened to be the most beautiful yellows pink and blues, and it was doing great in an almost completely shaded part of my porch.  I moved around some of my other plants and this beauty ended up in an area that got full sun for 6hrs.  Unfortunately the plant died not soon after I moved it.  Has anyone else had any problems growing sleeping beauty in unshaded areas? 

[Charlie]

Hi Kris,

We may not hear much about this new variety since we did not have many to offer last year. There are more this year so by summer's end there should be some comments. I've found Sleeping Beauty to be a very unusual variety. It's parents are Living Legend and Love Story - both strong red flowers - but this is a case where the genes mixed in a way to be bring out something new and different. The Path is a grandparent and some of the silvery fuscia color of The Path was passed on to Sleeping Beauty. This new variety is full of mystery - the bush itself has a different type of wood than we normally see. It also branches very strongly and without much pruning and all these many branches produce flower buds quickly.

I think we will find that it is a variety best grown in dappled or lower light. Early morning sun followed by shade would be ideal. This is more for the sake of the flower than the bush, since the delicate colors of the flower show best in lower light. The bush should have no problem with sun, and I doubt that is why yours died.

It is important to remember to change the amount of water a plant receives when it is moved to more sun from a less sunny area. It will need a good bit more water in the sunnier spot. You didn't say why it died in your post but not many things will kill a hibiscus that is well watered and has good nutrition other than cold or a disease known as hibiscus wilt disease. Since it wasn't cold when this one died I suspect the wilt disease did it in. This is a fungal disease that comes into the plant through the roots. It can strike any hibiscus without warning and seems almost random most of the time. We do know that too much water encourages this to happen but I also suspect that any big change in the environment also will allow the disease fungus to grow out of control. Potting mix that is too heavy can also encourage it. Usually, however, it just happens to one plant that is being treated the same way as all the others around and we don't know why that plant got it and not the others.

For sure we will watch for other reports of problems with Sleeping Beauty but I don't think the variety will turn out to be the problem because we have not seen this in our greenhouse grown ones or our houseplant one or the one planted in our garden.

Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad you enjoyed the subtle beauty of Sleeping Beauty's flowers.

Charlie

[kris]

Hi Charlie,

I actually went outside yesterday to look at the stick that was my sleeping beauty and I went ahead and checked the meristem under the bark and it was still Green!  I was reading that you could use Gibberillins to induce new growth.  Do you think that would work in this case? What else could I use to hopefully revive this plant.  Thank you

-Kris

[Charlie]

That's good news! Yes, the HVH Wake-up spray (which is gibberellic acid, a plant growth hormone) is used to overcome the effects of cold damage and encourage the plant to grow again. The main problem is that it absorbs best through leaves and there probably are no leaves. It does absorb through the stem, too, but if there are any leaves be sure to cover them both top and bottom with the spray.

We don't recommend using Wake-up spray as a soil drench but you could try a small amount one time if nothing else works. Better is a natural product such as HVH Growth Enhancer, which contains naturally occurring plant growth hormones and is a gentler and safer approach to stimulating healthy new growth. Drench it into the soil when watering the hibiscus.

The combination of warmth and plant growth hormones will often stimulate a damaged hibiscus to grow again. The main problem is that fungus disease may have contributed to the collapse of the plant in the first place and if that disease is still present it may overwhelm the efforts of the plant to grow again. Be sure to remove all dead or rotting stems before beginning to try to revive the hibiscus. It will need some water but just a little in the beginning, enough to moisten all the soil but not saturate it. Water again when the surface has dried out. Only when it has significant leaves will it need to be watered more thoroughly.

Good luck and let us know what happens!

Charlie

[kris]

The soil is pretty dry, so I hope that the fungi is no longer there.  Im gonna bring the plant inside and start treatment as soon as I can get some GA.  Thanks for the advice and I hope it comes out of it.  Keep you posted.

-Kris

[Cindy]

Sleeping Beauty definitely prefers a shady location. We have one in our house that gets only 1-2 hours of direct sun per day, and it blooms with gorgeous colors that last for several days.  Here's today's flower:



We have one Sleeping Beauty growing outside in our sunny garden, and the colors fade badly in the sun. But inside the house, it blooms with beautiful colors every time, the colors and blooms last for several days, and it blooms a LOT! So I think you were right, Kris, it definitely does better in a shady location with only a little bit of direct sunlight.

[LGrove]

I think your indoors Sleeping Beauty has my part shade one beat in color! I do find the faded ones pretty too, they look so soft, almost unreal when they fade, really different texture. I have mine bumped as close to shade as I can get, admittedly, this picture was taken just after opening!
Lisa

[Nievesgirl]

Thanks for sharing Lisa nice bloom.

This cv reminds me of a paler gator pride , I was tempted to buy it a long time ago.

[Cindy]

I have one outside in part sun, part shade too, Lisa, and get blooms similar to yours in the summer. There's more color in the fall and early winter, but outside I never get the 5-ringed splendor that I get regularly in the house. I think this hibiscus is destined to become a houseplant!  But I want one in every room of my house now!  LOL

The funny thing is, the first blooms Charlie and I saw of this new seedling was in the mid-winter, at the coldest, darkest time of year, in the greenhouse. The blooms had all 5 rings of color then too. It seems to be that Sleeping Beauty gets its best color when it has a very limited time of direct sunlight - just an hour or two a day max. More than that washes out all the colors. So I guess that's why it does so well in the house.

Cindy

[helixturnhelix]

Hi Cindy,

Does Sleeping Beauty bloom well in bright indirect light?

[Charlie]

Cindy thinks so - but adds that if it can get one hour of direct plus the indirect it will do best. My experience with it in the greenhouse is that is blooms very well in those conditions which are all day sun filtered through plastic with a layer of shade paint on the plastic. Big blooms, too, 8 inches often.

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Thanks for the info charlie,  bought this one to send to a friend as a house warming gift.  I wanted to make sure I got a CV that will do well is pretty much any window of the house, I think that she will not be disappointed with this one

[Charlie]

I think she will be amazed by Sleeping Beauty. So many different colors it shows. If a person is not experienced with modern hibiscus the color changing thing would be quite a surprise. And the big flowers, of course. I also like that Sleeping Beauty branches naturally so if she does not prune it she will still get multiple branches which translates to more flowers. Good choice for a houseplant!

Charlie