Thursday, June 19, 2008

We Had 'Sun Showers' Today!

Our newest addition to the hibiscus family, Sun Showers, graced us with three gorgeous and huge (about 8" across) flowers for the first time today!

The past few years I've been tempted by (and succumbed to) some of the striking new Hibiscus hybrids being developed, most notably the ones from a company called Bahama Bay Hibiscus. This is one of their newest introductions this year, and we think it's a real stunner, with its bright blasts of colors ... Orange, red, shades of pink and interesting blotches of yellow. It's touted as a variety that will bloom constantly in summer given a sunny spot in the garden (or in this case in a pot on the patio), and has the potential to grow up to 8 feet tall in warmer climates. Since it's a tropical variety, we'll have to bring it in for the winter, which usually means that it will not bloom much (if at all) over the winter. We may, however, rig up some additional lighting for it, but even when hibiscus bloom indoors, they are rarely as large as the flowers one gets during the height of the summer months. But I have the feeling that we're really going to enjoy having 'Sun Showers' around this summer and it will impress more than a few people with its electric eye popping colors ...

9 comments:

Shady Gardener said...

That is an Absolutely Gorgeous hibiscus!!! I put my potted hibiscus in a bedroom with one south and one west window (I only have one plant). In the winter, our home receives a lot more sunshine! ;-) At any rate, it blooms quite often! Make sure you include photos of this on your winter posts.

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Shady ... now you know why I melted at first sight of this radiant beauty, lol! It was far from cheap, but it's in investment in more unusual hibiscus like 'Erin Rachel' which suffered quite a bit over the winter due to lack of enough sun. Our southern exposures are few (only 3 halfway usable because one's in the shower!) So it's tough to find a good spot, though we do keep one in the dining room which has many more windows and it does pretty well.

Speaking of winter posts, usually I do the Amaryllis we have planted around Christmas (usually blooming around new year), but I didn't get to that this year, alas. The bulbs I bought were still unplanted until a couple of weeks ago when I took pity on them and finally potted them up. Wow, they have suffered little and are growing vigorously and will be blooming in a few days!

Bad timing, I know ... holiday rush did us in last year.

Sylvana said...

These look like lava! Love them!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Sylvana,
Now lava I hadn't thought of, but now that you mention it, yeah! You know full well that "just gotta have it!" way that certain plants provoke? LOL

Keep your eye out for the Bahama Bay ones if you're a fan of hibiscus. They're pricey but spectacular.

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