You gotta love Hibiscus - Photo Essay

 I love to garden and I love color, but I knew I also wanted low maintenance. Hibiscus turned out to be the perfect choice. Hibiscus come in endless varieties of bright tropical heat intense colors, white, creamy and pastel colors, in striations, single bloom, double bloom, frizzy petals or plain with striking colors and a deeply colored throat.

Here is a shot of my single bloom pink Hibiscus - I love the color. 

Who needs a double bloom when one is this gorgeous, right?

It looks like it embodies the tropics in it's fiery beauty. 

No matter how bright the sun shines, the color never looks washed out.

Below is a shot of the single red Hibiscus after a rain shower.

I included it, because I thought it looked so lovely with all the rain droplets.

The sun had just come out and made the flower almost translucent.

Everyone of the following Hibiscus blooms are from the same two hibiscus bushes - believe it or not!

Near our backyard terrace and in full view of the kitchen window is this little beauty.

You can tell by this bud and flower that the Hibiscus is a member of the Rose family.

I didn't know it, but Hibiscus are sometimes propagated to have two different color blooms on the same plant.  

My first two Hibiscus were a gift from a friend and I had no idea what color they would be or how wide or tall my Hibiscus would be.

Here is a close up of one of the blooms.

Isn't that the most luscious color combination? Reminds me of sherbet ice cream.

I never know what the flowers will look like on any given day. Here are two different color blooms right next to each other.

Even the single blooms look great and often have beautiful striations.

The interesting thing about this one is that it looks like it was thinking about starting another bloom from the center.

I admit my favorites are still the pink doubles and sometimes I float them in a bowl at the dinner table.

All of them look so fragile and exotic - drop dead georgeous.

It's like having a never ending flower show.

These are mature Hibiscus at 10 foot tall and five years old. I had to cut one almost to the ground after we had a hurricane one year. It did not seem to mind and the only problem I have on occasion is an infestation of those light green sticky mini bugs, aphids. I blast them off with the hose and wait for the lady bugs to come in to feast on the rest.

I don't use pesticides and I feed Osmocote twice a year. Since this is a mature plant and I have never overwatered, it does fine without me watering it, except in the worst heat of the summer. Because of it's location right by a seating area I do trim the sides twice a year. So if you are looking for an easy care plant - this is definitely a great choice.

Incredible color combination - a gift from Mother Nature.

Infinite variety.

The double pinks are still my favorites.

How about this mottled little charmer that appeared one day?

This sunlit beauty is lemony peach - I think.

Every once in a while I find a blom of the softest of pink - nary a whisper.

The next day I am all excited about one of the rare colors to appear, 

the most hot and tropical looking color of all - neither red nor pink.

Blooming right next to this orange sherbet color - incredible fantasy shape. 

Here is a fine mixed beauty - the best of both worlds.

As delicate as a Japanese paper flower.

I hope you enjoyed my garden beauties - it has been my pleasure to share them with you.

All images were taken by Rose H. with an D-540 Olympus digital camera.

Article updated  - to spotlight on May 27, 2008