Hardy Hibiscus - A Beginner's Guide

I love hibiscus flowers. The first time I ever saw them, of course, was in Hawaii. I didn't think much about growing them myself, as I always thought you had to live in a tropical climate for them to thrive.

About six or seven years ago I moved to south Texas and became involved in Master Gardening and discovered that hibiscus thrive there. Wonderful, I thought. I planted several and they grew and enhanced my front and back yards with intense, vivid colors. And the best thing of all was that they grew year-round with the proper care.

Upon relocating to north Texas a few years later, I wasn't sure if I could replicate my hibiscus success, so at first I'd just purchase and plant the tropical varieties and they would last until first frost, then that was it until spring time. I heard about the hardy hibiscus (or 'hearty' as some people call them) but had a hard time finding them in a nursery anywhere in my area. Seems there were either a lot more hibiscus fans than I thought, or maybe hardy hibiscus just didn't exist. I even asked my Master Gardener friends where I could get them, but to no avail.

This past May I finally found a company called Spring Hill Nurseries online and found that they carried Hardy Hibiscus! So I ordered what I thought were six plants. I had never ordered garden materials (or plants, for that matter) from a website before, and I guess I expected to receive six plants each in a small pot, ready to transplant. Imagine my surprise when I opened the VERY small box to find six dried hibiscus ROOTS! Great, I thought, I don't know how to even plant these, much less get them to grow.

However, Spring Hill sends a little catalog along with each shipment to its customers, and inside the catalog is a planting guide. Whew! I had some instructions to follow. My hibiscus roots are considered a "dormant woody plant" so I followed these instructions:

1. The plants can be kept for a few days in their plastic bags (they come shipped in quantities of three; each in a plastic bag) in a cool and dark location (34 to 40 degrees is recommended) with their roots covered with damp newspaper. Mind you, I received these in mid-May when our temps were around 85 during the day. I waited about a week before I planted mine.

Ok, back to the instructions. Give the roots and newspaper a light misting as needed to keep them damp, but not soggy. When you are ready to plant, soak the roots in a bucket of water for at least one hour just before planting. If you must hold your bareroot plants longer than 10 days, you should get their roots in contact with soil by either planting them in a pot with potting mix to hold them over until you can plant them in their permanent location.

2. When you are ready to plant, work the ground for an area 3-4 times the width and depth of the roots, then make a hole twice as wide and deep as the bareroots. Create a mound in the planting hole and drape the roots over it with the crown (where the roots meet the stem that will grow above ground) at ground level. Fill the planting hole with soil and firm wtih both hands or the handle of your trowel.

3. After you've dug the hole, added organic matter and planted your plant. Use your dirt to make a slight rise or lip around the plant in a circle around the edge of the hole. This will help hold water around the plant's roots as it is getting established. Water the plant until the lip is full to the brim, let it soak in and repeat. This helps make sure the roots are in good contact with the soil and that they have enough water to help overcome transplant shock. If your plant wants to wilt even though the soil is moist, the roots have not caught up with the top of the plant. Shade the plant for a few days to help retard water loss through the leaves and give the roots a chance to get going.

Basically, I dug my holes (x 6, since I had six plants) about 2 ft. apart, and used a mixture of organic compost and fresh potting soil to tuck the tendrils of the root into. They were kind of wobbly at first, so I packed the mixture a little tighter around the base of what I thought was the actual stem. I gave each one a good drink of water and mulched with pine bark mulch on top.

In between each plant I planted some Coreopsis, which is a nice plant for tolerating heat and drought through the summer and into fall. I had no idea what colors my hibiscus would be, so I took a chance on the yellow coreopsis blooms, but figured whatever color the hibiscus turned out to be, the yellow would be a nice contrast. I planted all these along the southern side of my house, so they got lots of sun.

Then I waited. And waited. They plants started growing and turning green, but at different rates. I have six plants, and now three of them are now about 4 feet high and blooming and three of them are still only about six inches high. I guess they are like kids - they grow at their own speed! :-)

I also ran into a problem with some kind of snail or slug enjoying my hibiscus' lush green leaves. I bought a product called Sluggo and sprinkled it around the base of each plant and haven't had any problems with the critters since.

And what color did my hibiscus turn out to be? The buds have a darker pink tint to them but when they open, they become what is called "disco belle pink"! Truthfully, I was kind of hoping for a deeper pink or red shade, but I just buy the tropical ones in those colors to put in pots on my deck. I'm just thrilled that I was able to grow these and get them to where they are today.

I am still learning how to care for my hibiscus plants as we eventually move into fall and winter. North Texas winters can be brutal, so it will be interesting to see how 'hardy' or 'hearty' they are, but I'm looking forward to the learning process!