Disco Belle hibiscuses - not quite in full bloom but pretty...:-)

10 years ago

The big clump of Disco Belles in the driveway border are being a bit odd this year. Half the clump is starting to bloom nicely but the other side is hardly in bloom at all although there are plenty of buds. The Disco Belles are the earliest to bloom for me and bloom for quite a long period. A couple of Luna Red flowers are open now but no other varieties are showing color yet. We are starting to get dry here; all the recent thunderstorms in the forecast missed us....! Some of the hibiscuses that are not showing color are starting to look a bit stressed (some yellow leaves) so DH is out dragging the hose around at the moment!

Disco Belles in the driveway border (with some of the front bed in the background):
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You can see that there are more of them in the front bed too and see the Luna Red ones starting to bloom behind the left side of the arbour. There are usually more of the Viburnum opulus fruit (which is just starting to turn red) to coordinate with the red hibiscuses but we cut the top of the bush back because the eavestroughs will be replaced soon so we had to improve access to the roof!
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Comments (11)

echinaceamaniac
10 years ago
They look pretty. Here's my favorite Hibiscus called 'Midnight Marvel' in bloom today. I love the dark foliage which looks good even when the plant isn't in bloom.
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
10 years ago
There's the Disco Belle I was remembering. Great shrub, Woody, lucky you! Looks like it has a lot of buds and ready to keep you in blooms for awhile. Your Butterfly Bush is looking really healthy too. Nice to have lots blooming in August!
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kato - yeah, sometimes hibiscuses can 'stick out'. I think I sort of solved that problem by accident :-) I tend to plant things as part of a bigger picture - i.e. I always consider what other plants a particular plant will be partnered with - the individual is always part of a group; the color scheme of the area it will be added to; the relative size of the plant and the companion plants; and all the usual considerations of soil, light and moisture. There are a lot of hibiscuses in the front garden now and they are a key part of the August garden display. They are very showy but they also play well with the other things in bloom at this time of year in the pink/white/blue color ranges. I think hibiscuses tend to 'stick out' when they are grown as a specimen plant and/or are pink ones paired with golds. To pair with golds/orange/rusty red, I think (hope!) the hibiscuses with dark foliage and dark red flowers would work best - I will find out if that works when the 'Midnight Marvel' in my 'hot' bed blooms (soon, I hope!) I'd love to see pictures of how other people blend in hardy hibiscuses into the garden....
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woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
10 years ago
That Midnight Marvel looks good - I'll keep an eye out for it.... A few years ago I bought a 'Fireball' partly because of its dark, cutleaf foliage. But I've been disappointed with the foliage in the garden - not really dark at all even though it's in full sun. I suspect the conditions are a bit too dry foor it and that probably affects the color. The flowers are beautiful though - but not nearly as prolific as the Disco Belles!

pm2 - one of the things I like about those Disco Belles is that they do appear to be shrubs, although of course they're not.... I like perennials that have that kind of presence in the garden!
a2zmom_Z6_NJ
10 years ago
I really like the way Disco Belle subtly echoes the color of the Echinaceas.

I planted my first hibiscus earlier this summer. A gift from a friend. I'm eager to see what it looks like, since all they could tell me was "red".
echinaceamaniac
10 years ago
'Midnight Marvel' gets 5 feet tall and about 5 feet wide. There is another dark foliage variety called 'Summer Storm' that has pink blooms with red streaks in the middle. That one is good too. If anyone wants to root cuttings of these, they root easy in a glass of water.
mxk3 z5b_MI
10 years ago
Gorgeous! I just love hibiscus! Mine haven't started yet, as I pinch them many times, but are budded up. Oh, wait - I take that back, my Anne Arundel has started. Really looking forward to my "Brandy Punch" in the front of the house, lots of buds on those, and the color is just a joyous shade of pink. :0)

I have Luna series and Disco Belle series, and I think Disco Belle is the better of the two - more floriferous and robust plants overall. Getting harder and harder to find, though - seems to have been replaced by Luna. Luna are okay, they're not bad per se - I just think DB is better.
ryseryse_2004
10 years ago
I'm so jealous!!!! I have them in red, white and pink and the hoards of Japanese Beetles have really done a job on them this summer! They haven't allowed a single white bud to open. I have never seen so many beetles as this year and they love the Disco Belle buds and flowers. (They leave the leaves alone).

Would this work? If next year I cut them back as they start to grow, maybe they will start budding and blooming after the beetles are gone. What do you think?
echinaceamaniac
10 years ago
There are seeds of 'Disco Belles' available in lots of places. This is a seed variety and seems easy to find. The one I posted is not a seed variety. I don't think I've seen the ones with dark leaves from seeds yet. The reason the 'Luna' plants (from seeds also) are so popular is because they are small and many people don't have enough room for the big ones. I think they only get about 2-3 feet tall.

Here is a link that might be useful: Disco Belle Seeds

This post was edited by echinaceamaniac on Sat, Aug 10, 13 at 9:21
a2zmom_Z6_NJ
10 years ago
Ryse, Tracy Disabato-Aust recommends that very strategy in her book "The Well Tended Perennial Garden". I don't have to book handy so I can't look up the partculars, but I can check later if you'd like.
Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
10 years ago
That's a nice one, Woody. I really like how your 2 pics show how layered your garden is with perennials, shrubs and trees. I'm losing my bearings a little in the first photo, but is that the heptacodium behind the butterfly bush. And what is that purple leaved tree?
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
10 years ago
thyme - yes the heptacodium is behind the butterfly bush in that picture - but the camera 'flattens' the depth. The heptacodium tree is 15' or more away from the BB but you can't see that in the viewing angle of the photo. Similarly, the purple tree is the neighbour's beech tree - and that tree is probably 60' away! But it fits nicely as a 'borrowed view' for my garden :-)

Disco Belle hibiscuses - not quite in full bloom but pretty...:-)

Comments (11)

echinaceamaniac

prairiemoon2 z6b MA

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Thyme2dig NH Zone 5

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Disco Belle hibiscuses - not quite in full bloom but pretty...:-)

Comments (11)

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woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., CanadaOriginal Author

woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., CanadaOriginal Author

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woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
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woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
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