Annuals Dictionary: Hibiscus
Mallow family
Malvaceae
Hy-bis’kus. An important genus of over 250 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees, with many popular garden annuals.
Description
Leaves alternate, with veins arranged finger-fashion, sometimes lobed or parted. Flowers usually large, generally bell-shaped, with 5 petals and sepals, or sometimes the sepals united to form a 5-toothed calyx. Stamens united in a tubular structure that surrounds the style. Often a series of bracts beneath the calyx.
How to Grow
Start seeds indoors at 70-75° F (21-24° C) 8-10 weeks before last frost. After danger of frost is past, set in the garden in average to moist but not soggy soil. The species below prefer warm weather.
Hibiscus Acetosella
To 5 ft. (1.5 m) high. Leaves variable, lobed or unlobed, green and red or all red. Flowers solitary, yellow or purple-red, 2 in. (6 cm) wide, in angle between leaf and stem. E. Africa. Blooms 10 months after germination. Cultivar ‘Red Shield’ has red leaves. Grown for hedges, bedding, or as a pot plant. Half-hardy annual.
Hibiscus Moscheutos
Rose Mallow ; Swamp Mallow ; Sea Hollyhock . 3-8 ft. (0.9-2.4 m) high. Flowers 4-7 in. (10.0-17.5 cm) wide, creamy white or pink, with no eye; wilting within an hour when picked. Brackish marshes, Mass. to Va.; rarely, in fresh marshes westward to Ill. Many cultivars, including new dwarf forms with huge flowers. Nick seeds before sowing and place in soil that is rich in organic matter. Perennial grown as a half-hardy annual.
Hibiscus Trionum
Flower-of-an-Hour . 1-4 ft. (45-120 cm) high. Flowers solitary, pale yellow or yellowish white, with a dark eye, 1-1 in. (2.5-4 cm) wide, in angle between leaf and stem. Old World tropics, naturalized elsewhere. Sometimes self-sows. Half-hardy annual.