Saturday, July 22, 2006

Hibiscus: Before & After

My large Hibiscus bushes are beginning to bloom and I really look forward to their beautiful blooms. We have several bushes around the yard in many locations, but these 3 along the fence bloom first and I'm assuming it's because they get sunshine all day long.
The large flowers range in colors from a deep pink which is almost red...I also have light pale pink blooms and some bushes have white blooms.
A few years back I gave my son some seeds from the red hibiscus flowers and when his row of plants began to bloom they consisted of red, pink & white blooms. His bushes were soooo BEAUTIFUL that everyone who saw them wanted to know where he had gotten his plants. He dug many of his bushes up and gave them away. They are so easy to start from seed and also transplant well. Above is a picture of these young bushes, which are about 6 feet tall and below is a picture of them this morning...after a violent thunderstorm we had last night.
Several of my tall flowers got knocked over by the strong winds last night and it was like old times here in the house with no power either. We lit the oil lamps and my husband told me stories about having to read books using the dim lights of the oil lamps...He concluded that his eyes must have been much better, when he was younger because, he could hardly make out the printing on a magazine he was trying to read to me. I told him that they probably made the printing MUCH bolder in those days, when electricity was not around.

16 comments:

Motherkitty said...

We had bad storms yesterday starting around 3 p.m. Didn't knock the power out, but it sure looked dark and dangerous for a while. That didn't stop us from going out to eat after therapy though. Hope your hibiscus perks up. they are really beautiful. I would love to get some seeds the next time we're there.

Susie said...

I had no one could use hibiscus seeds to start another! See what I learn by blogging! My orange one is in bloom. I posted a picture of it recently.
I also learned by blogging that Rose of Sharon is in the hibiscus family. It's in full bloom now ( I also posted pictures of that one)
No storms here, only unbearable heat!

Susie said...

Oops that should say I had no idea that one could use hibiscus seeds....
This heat is frying what's left of my brain :-)

Jamie Dawn said...

Dylan is so adorable!!!

I love flowers and landscaping and gardens. Your pics are great.
I got a good chuckle about "much bolder" print!!

Jellyhead said...

he he - I like the way you tried to make Jimmy feel better about his eyesight!

Hope your hibiscus bushes recover OK

Kerri said...

What amazing hibiscus. They're just beautiful. They always make me nostalgic for Australia, where they grow so beautifully. I didn't know they'd grow so well from seed either.
I hope your bush popped back up. What a nasty storm you had.
I think the sky is falling!.....we had heavy rains again this morning and our creek flooded the road again! There were other floods in our little community too...they made the news on the radio!

TJ said...

Loved your hibiscus pics...my power was out all afternoon and evening so I am just now catching up...glad it came back on before we had to light the oil lamps...lol!!!
:-D

Rachel said...

Those bad storms missed us. We got some rain and a little thunder but the bad stuff went north and south of us. I was plenty happy about that. Sorry about your poor wind blown plants. The hibiscus is so lovely!!

No electricity is no fun. When I was a little kid we only had oil lamps and I remember in the living room sometimes the only light was the light from the fireplace if it was during winter. In the summer it stayed lighter longer so when darkness came it was bedtime! Ah, the good old days!! :) Glad you have some oil lamps to fall back on. They do make a romantic glow........

HORIZON said...

Your flowers are blooming marvelous!
Wonder how we ever managed without electricity?? lol
My grandmothers must have been tough ladies- all that scrubbing by hand etc. Makes you think.
Sometimes on the weekends the hubby and l light a candle and sit at the dining room chatting and share a bottle of red wine- is nice.

Alice said...

Those hibiscus are the most heavenly colours and growing so beautifully. A lovely sight, especially all that green.

doubleknot said...

Oh I am so sorry about your hibiscus. Hope it recovers. Now I learned something new - didn't know you could start hibiscus from seed - I have always started cuttings.
Your flowers are so lovely.

squire said...

Did he tell you about walking 5 miles to school and it was "uphill" both ways?

TUFFENUF said...

I heard about the bad storms up there. I guess a lot of people lost power. It makes me glad that I bought that generator a while back - but you know I haven't even started it up to test it yet! I better do that this week, after all we are in hurricane season here, even though everyone else seems to be getting the bad weather!

Anonymous said...

boy,. the things I learn every day. We have hibiscus everywhere here... I thinnk it's almost the state flower! But I didn't know you could grow them easily from seed!
ahh well.
Those pictures are beautiful. And a big happy belated Bday to your cute lil great-grandson, Dylan!

Alipurr said...

My hibiscus, which are pale pink and some white, have lots of buds, but only 2 blooms so far. I keep going out every day to see if they have bloomed. My husband's grandmother tried to give me some stalks, with roots, of a red hibiscus to plant, but none of mine survived :(. It is so sad to see flowers crushed by the rain and wind. This seems to happen almost every year the same week that my yuccas bloom

madameplushbottom said...

I think I've said this before, and if I have, please forgive me. You have the most magnificent looking yard. I love looking at your plants and bushes and flowers. I feel so concrete locked when I look at your view because I live in the heart of a major city's downtown. Thanks for sharing your view - I love looking at your pictures Sandy.