How to Grow a Hibiscus Shrub (2024)

No content available.

When to PlantHibiscus

Hibiscus can be purchased as young plants from nurseries and are best planted in the spring. Or, they can be rooted from a cutting in thespring.

If you wish to grow hibiscus from seed, sow indoors 12 weeks before the last springfrost date.Soak seeds in very warm water for one hour before sowing.Alternatively, seeds canbe sown outdoors after the last expected frostdate.

Choosing and Preparing a PlantingSite

• Choose a site that gets full sun; they’ll grow in partial sun but will not flower aswell.
• Hibiscus prefers well-draining soil with plenty of organic matter andneutral to slightly acidic soil.
• To avoid breakage of the long stems, plant hibiscus where they won’t beexposed to strongwinds.

How to PlantHibiscus

• Plant potted hibiscus plants so that their stems are just at the soilsurface.
• To root a cutting in the spring, cut off a branch 5 to 6 inches long and strip off lower leaves. Plant the cutting in a pot with a mix of three parts sand and one part peat. Roots should form within a few weeks. Transplant the cutting from the pot into theground.
• The hibiscus species that die back each year can be spaced 2 to 3 feet apart. Consider the potential height and width (up to 12 feet and 10 feet, respectively) of a mature plant beforeplanting.
• Water the plants well at the time ofplanting.

How to Care for HibiscusShrubs

• Hibiscus needsfrequent watering, especially when young and new. When watering, do so deeply and thoroughly, drenching theplant.
• Mulch around the plant to retain moisture and to provide winter protection for theroots.
• To encourage rebloom, either remove the spentflowers before they form seed heads or prune plants back by one-third after a flush of bloom isfinished.
• Perennial hibiscus will freeze back to the ground each winter; cut old stems to theground.
• Hibiscus blooms on new wood (this year’s growth), so pruningis best done in thespring.
• In early spring, remove dead stems from established plants and apply a balancedfertilizer.
• Over the growing season, hibiscus can benefit from a fertilizer that is high in potassium, medium to medium-high in nitrogen, and low in phosphorus, as the plant can be sensitive tophosphorus.
• Mature plants can be divided in the spring, notfall.

Scarlet Swamp Hibiscus (H. coccineus): Thisplant, alsoknown as Texas Star, has 5-petaled, brilliant-red flowers. It grows to a height ofseven feet each growing season, dies back to the ground every winter, and resprouts inspring.

Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos): This is the classic dinner-plate hibiscus due to the large size of its flowers. These large, fast-growing plants bloom from August to October, and each plant may flaunt several 10 to 12-inch wide flowers at once. A few of the many popular cultivarsare:

• ‘Anne Arundel’ has pink flowers, nine inches in diameter, on plants five feettall.
• ‘Kopper King’ has light pink to white flowers with a burgundy center, 12 inches in diameter, withcoppery red deeply cutleaves.
• ‘Lady Baltimore’ is a popular old variety with pink flowers and red centers on five-foot-tallplants.
• ‘Lord Baltimore’ is another old variety with red flowers on five-foot-tallplants.

Catherine Boeckmann