Looking to add hibiscus / what are the top 3 varieties?

[BrockD]

Hello all I’m in a warm 9b, located in North San Bernardino above the 2010 freeway 

I do get the Santa Ana winds, and occasionally 2-4 nights of frost. Although these last few years there hasn’t been any frosts. 

 

what are the top 3 either rare or just visually appealing varieties one can get?

 

thanks in advance

 

- Brock

[mnorell]

There are so many species, hybrids and cultivars that it would be impossible to give you three "visually appealing" types because it's a question of aesthetics, which varies for each of us. If you want rare, or are interested in the evolution of what we know today as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (which is I think assumed to be a reproductively stable hybrid), it is interesting to read up on the theories of its origins, and some of these ancestors are available commercially. I personally prefer hybrids between the African species H. schizopetalus and H. rosa-sinensis that are very much identified with Hawai'i and the early and middle periods of the 20th century there. They are very graceful, have mostly separated recurving petals, long staminal column, a somewhat drooping habit and are extremely showy. These are sometimes called 'Waterfall' types (Hibiscus x archeri), and there are other similar hybrids like 'Psyche.' The original species H. schizopetalus is also a beautiful, unusual an extremely showy species. Other people prefer the large 'dinner plate' types with overlapping petals in all sorts of colors from yellow, pink and red to chocolate brown. All in all, you will have to make your own determinations. The International Hibiscus Society is a great place to start and you can go to their site to start browsing the dizzying array of registered cultivars/hybrids and the various species, to decide what really appeals to you. It is an adventure for many Hibiscus enthusiasts just as is the case with Plumeria, orchids, and dare I say it, palms! Best of luck in finding something that you enjoy.

[Expectorating aubergine]

Hibiscus tillaceus, Hibiscus clayi, Fremontodendron californicum

[Silas_Sancona]

If you get quite hot where you're located during the summer, start with the tried and true...  " The President"  ..Probably the toughest H. rosa sinensis cultivar out there ..Will handle 9b winters w/ out issue, and is one of the few i've seen in yards that seems to  handle our punishing heat / very dry air ..a good chunk of a given year  quite well.. 

That said, ..and i'll be posting shots of it later.. i did encounter a nice, dark pink Hibiscus r/s cultivar today that seems to be handling its mainly sunny exposure pretty nicely.

A little shade / close to regular water ( ...Say a good soak once or twice a week during the hottest part of the year )  other classic standard Hibiscus cultivars should work for you..   Some of the weeping types are quite nice too..

" Hawaiian Salmon " and " Swan lake "  were two i grew that did pretty well here, even in containers ..until i forgot to water them enough one summer..  Out there, in the ground, ..and treated good, lol..  they'd probably do fine.  Hawaiian Salmon is spectacular when it flowers. 


Overall, ..as mentioned, there are a ton of Hibiscus cultivars out there. Some are great ..Others look great when bought, but end up being quite wimpy later, esp. some of the really spectacular looking cultivars. 

Really good link for you to check out : https://www.socalhibiscussociety.org/




One thing i'll advise right out of the gate ..NEVER feed them w/ a high Phosphorus fertilizer ..Say anything w/ more than 5% Phos. in it.. Some will disagree but, plenty of articles -from reputable hibiscus growers who will tell you the same thing..  All those " bloom boosters w/ tons of Phophorus in em'? absolute marketing scams / garbage.. avoid like the plague if you want healthy and spectacular Hibiscus..

Hibiscus ..and some other tropical -esque plants like Plumeria, will glut themselves on tons of Phosphorus before collapsing later.  Potassium is what these plants like a lot of.. so a fert ratio of say 8 -2 -12 would be ideal.. Honestly, i'd even go 5 -5 -12 ( ..or up to 20, for the K )

While they aren't selling plants any more ( ..A real bummer when they announced that  ), some of the information on proper feeding of these plants can be found on Hidden Valley Hibiscus' website..  Charles Black, the grower who started the nursery,  is a world renowned expert, so his info is 100% trustworthy..

Some interesting species from Hawaii, Mexico, and other places i know have been cultivated in various gardens around S. Cal that might be interesting to do some research on too.  

[BrockD]

Oh man this is a lot more information than expected. But I shouldn’t be surprised being that I’m coming for the palm, aloe, cycad world. 
 

I appreciate everyone personal opinions. I guess o have more information to research. I like the look of Hawaiian Salmon 

I’m looking for that tropical look/deal for my yard. Palms can be quite bare without adding any color.  
 

im looking forward to this next integration of my garden 

 

there are so many color flowering plants to be added to my yard 

 

 

[Peter]

I've found my 2 Home Depot specials have been bullet proof and flower their heads off without needing much water or fertilizer and I'm in an extremely hot inland CA location.I tried a couple of the fancy ones years ago but they were finicky, slow, and a general pain in the ass, but that's just my opinion of course.  I"ve had mine for maybe 8-9 years and they just go on cranking.

[Josh76]

Not technically a Hibiscus, but in the same family, I absolutely fell in love with Alyogyne huegelii 'Santa Cruz' when I saw one last year in Malibu. A stunning, and rarely-seen colour!

[Silas_Sancona]

5 minutes ago, Josh76 said:

Not technically a Hibiscus, but in the same family, I absolutely fell in love with Alyogyne huegelii 'Santa Cruz' when I saw one last year in Malibu. A stunning, and rarely-seen colour!

Not a common sight ( ...esp. compared to back home in Cali. ) but, have seen these do far better than i'd have expected where spotted growing in yards locally. 

White - flowered A. hakeifolia  is another sp. a local nursery started growing / has been growing on - site, which has done well here also. 

[BrockD]

In general I’m on the hunt for flowering colorful plants. I’ve just put in a few orders from just yesterday on many varieties that I’ve never heard of. 
 

I am looking for some nice Grevelia cultivars.

 

my most recent orders placed:

 

Athen’s Blue Tibouchina, Princess Flower
 

 'Tropical Rose' SunPatiens
 

Celebrations Masquerade' Anigozanthos, Kangaroo Paw

 PURPLE FLAME Iris versicolor Blue Flag

Variegated Pink Winter Daphne
Major Wheeler Red Trumpet Honeysuckle 

 

[happypalms]

Summer love!

[iDesign]

I'm pretty far down the "Tropical Hibiscus" rabbit hole. 🐇

I fell in love with the newer (tropical) varieties at a hibiscus society meeting where they visited a home that was hibiscus-crazy - https://www.socalhibiscussociety.org/event/october-2021-meeting-dr-curtis-estate/

At this meeting, I learned that they pair well with Plumeria, since they both love high-potassium fertilizer... and plumeria can provide the scent factor, which hibiscus lacks.  They're fertilizer hogs (if you want them to look as awesome as these photos). We're incorporating this information into our own yard by setting aside a dedicated hibiscus area (with a few plumeria), and this area will have a dedicated fertilizer-spiked water line. 

At the meeting, they also discussed the dreaded whitefly issue, and it sounds like maintaining at least a little airflow in the plant core (and ideally not putting them against a wall) can help a lot. But if a plant gets infected you might need to use a systemic for a short time. But remove buds if doing this to a plant to minimize pollinator harm. Some people also swear by worm castings as a deterrent.

As for varieties, the newest ones are amazing! There are the traditional "hardy" hibiscus, but the newer ones are "tropical" type, and don't grow as huge. Sadly, the tropical types are not for all zones though (unless you plan to bring them inside in winter), and I can't personally speak to hardiness. Like palms, the most desireable hibiscus varieties also are only available for short times, unless they've been mass produced.

As for where to buy the more rare "tropical" types...

- Logees - https://www.logees.com/ is a good source for the formerly-rare varieties that are now being mass propagated, and I've seen quite a few collectible ones there. If I was starting a collection today I would definitely buy "White Hot" & "Midnight Tryst". I would also get "Black Dragon" when it comes back in stock. That one is a "short" variety that tends to go horizontal once it reaches 18". The bloom on that one is stunning, and mine has been a great bloomer.

- Big Bad Flower - https://bigbadflower.com/ - is another source for the newer, tropical types. Inventory varies a lot week to week though. If shopping today, I would definitely get "Tahitian Princess" (I'm surprised they have it... I paid a lot more for mine!).  And maybe "Kilmanjaro", "Creole Lady", "Storm Front" and/or "Swamp Cloud".  They appear to have a lot of other nice choices right now as well. Shipping can add up, so experiment with how many you can buy and still get a reasonable shipping cost.

Note that hibiscus blooms can look vastly different in different areas, so take the published photo with a grain of sale. Before buying a plant, I like to do a search in the Facebook Hibiscus groups to see how much the bloom cosmetics varies between locations. For example, "Black Dragon" always looks the same, but others can look wildly different depending on where they're grown and sun level.

Another tip is that you can sometimes get info about the bush size & bloom size at this URL - https://internationalhibiscussociety.org/searchive/genealogy_tree
- If you type "White Hot" (and click on the thumbnail) you can see that the bush size is "large" (6-9ft) with 7-8" blooms, which "Midnight Tryst" bush size is "medium" (3-6ft) with 7-8" blooms. They don't have "Black Dragon" listed, but that one is definitely a "small" bush (around 18" max height).  I tend to prefer large blooms, but they have a lot that of varieties 5-6" blooms and some even smaller.

Again, all of this advice relates to the "tropical" type. If looking for the "hardy" type that would be a totally different set of plants.

Hope that helps!

EDIT: You asked for your "Top 3" and here are mine so far (out of the ones in my collection)...

1) Bohemian Rhapsody

2) Peach Riot (one of several "looks")


3) Black Dragon (rich color, stays small, and pairs well with my "Ti" plants)

[BrockD]

Wow that was super helpful. I reached out to Alex Franco and he mentioned those events to attended but lol o went through one of the sites you recommended and picked out three beautiful plants. 
 

they didn’t have the varieties you spoke of so I picked these instead. 
 

now on to grevilias 

 

 

 

[iDesign]

Those look great. Rum Runner is an older variety, but still popular (for obvious reasons). I don’t know the other two, but they look great. Not sure why the others weren’t there as they were when I posted. Hopefully a fellow Palmtalker saw my post and snagged em (they do tend to go fast sometimes).

Alex Franco is a great person to reach out to! He’s active at both the Plumeria and Hibiscus events, and is slowly filling the availability hole left when Hidden Valley Hibiscus retired. Wish he had an online store, but the events are fun and educational. I’ve just been able to do one of the So Cal Hibiscus meetings (the 2021 Curtis one), but it fired me up and now my hibiscus collection is huge and growing.

Speaking of which, the hibiscus society is going BACK to the Curtis home (in Tustin) on Saturday June 14th. If there’s any chance you could attend I highly recommend it, as one of the very best hibiscus collections SoCal (possibly the top one). They're also talking about pests and tips for top plant health. I wish I could go myself, but there’s a conflicting kid event. If you go, please let me know as there’s something I wish I had taken a photo of (his fertilizer system setup). I’m sure Alex will be there and selling. 🌺

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, BrockD said:

Wow that was super helpful. I reached out to Alex Franco and he mentioned those events to attended but lol o went through one of the sites you recommended and picked out three beautiful plants. 
 

they didn’t have the varieties you spoke of so I picked these instead. 
 

now on to grevilias 

 

 

 

Agree with idesign.  Had H. r/s x Rum Runner for several years,  Great cultivar.. 

BTW, PLENTY of other beauties in this thread i'd forgotten to link here..
 

Lot of good people in that thread who don't post much / have moved on too. 

[BrockD]

I plan on going. And would be more than happy to take a picture of his fertilizing system for you 

 

 

[iDesign]

1 hour ago, BrockD said:

I plan on going. And would be more than happy to take a picture of his fertilizing system for you.

Oh, that would be amazing... thank you!

I was so obsessed with documenting the plant names that I didn't even think to take photos or a video of his fertilization system (despite lots of people gathering there asking questions). And now my husband wishes I had gathered the info. Oops! 🙄

Dr. Curtis' system is undoubtedly MUCH more robust than mine will be, but we'd like to try to recreate it on a smaller scale. Specifically, my husband is curious about the brand (dositron? other?), and whether Dr. Curtis is using special Reverse-Osmosis water, or plain tap water. A photo and/or video would be super helpful. Here is where the system is located (in the backyard)...

Oh, and make sure to catch the talk by Darren about controlling whitefly and preventing yellow leaves. He's the expert for this area and it's great info. In fact, if you can post a quick summary of anything particularly memorable I'd love the reminder...  I remember the whitefly part pretty well, but forgot what he said about yellow leaf prevention (which I'm struggling a bit with).

Thank you again! Wish the date worked out for me, but kids' stuff comes first... usually. 🤣