We just planted a beautiful Hibiscus Plant from the Biltomore Estate in our garden, purchased at our local nursery. It said full sun and seems to be doing well. The first blooms appeared the other day, beautiful large red flowers. They are beautiful for one day and then droop and wilt the next. Is this normal? I just read online that this plant will not survive a Colorado winter unless we dig it up and bring it inside. My question is: With the drooping blooms...do I pick them off daily...they look so sad!
Yes, this is normal. Hibiscus (can) bloom a lot, but the flowers generally only last a day. You can pick them off. Most drop readily on their own. There are hardy species.
There are hardy and tender species of Hibiscus. You will need to ID the plant you have before that question can be answered.
It is from the Biltmore Estate in Asheville North Carolina. It is called "Luna Red", but I didn't get the latin name....I can try to get it from the garden center (I bought it from. Will that help? I also have another one I got at the same place called "Hibiscus moscheutos" 'Kopper King' P.P. #10793 that has done little or nothing since we planted it. It doesn't appear to be changing much and has never bloomed. It has didfferent leaves than the Luna Red one.) The Luna Red is big, beautiful and a prolific bloomer....seems to be a strong plant.
Both of those clutivars are hardy to USDA Zone 5 ('Kopper King' actually hardy to Z4). The 'Luna Red' is a cultivar of Hibiscus moscheutos. These are perennial herbaceous plants and should come back from the ground each year if they survive the winter. You can do a search on Hibiscus moscheutos to learn about them and discover other cultivars. I would hang on to the 'Kopper King' and give it a chance to extablish itself. It looks like quite a beauty and is supposed to be quite a vigorous plant. You might also want to look up Hibiscus syriacus. This species of hibiscus is also hardy to Zone 5, but is a woody plant.
Thank you so much Eric. If I knew how to post a picture, I would. I have a digital camera....I just don't know how to add the picture here! I'll get my computer savy son to help the next time he drops by! I guess my best bet would be to talk to the people at the garden center where I bought the plants. They do have a few people who know what they're talking about and a huge greenhouse....or should I say huge greenhouses! They are known in the area as one of the best places to buy plants. They hire a lot of seasonal help that don't know much, so I'll have to be selective about who I choose to talk to. I hope you don't feel I'm wasting your time! Thanks again.
i bought luna red at a walmart here in florida was sold as a dwarf plant it never gets more than 3 feet here i only have one left out of 2 they are not as hardy in my part of florida as they are in other parts of the country the winters are too hot i guess. have had it for a little over a year. i would grow some cuttings but as far as i know its still under patent. so donot want to deal with all that i still have texas star and regular rose mallow so can keep those growing i hope the luna lives for more than a few years. they go dormant for winter and are slow to resprout in spring so sometimes the heat kills them before they can resprout. it is a nice big flower. and donot know about the hardy hibiscus but the tropical hibiscus will last more than a day if you pollinate the flower. not always but i have had a few last for almost two days after pollinating it . its worth a try with the luna, it cannot hurt anything if nothing else you make sure you get more seeds to plant later.
