Wow! Well worth the wait - those buds are gorgeous!

Yippee PM2, got to be something in this NE air this year. I got one too, finally after 3 year wait, there are 3 tiny, and I mean tiny buds just starting to form on one.

Isn't it awesome though, just when you are ready to give up, you get a beautiful surprise.

Can't wait to see those buds fully open tomorrow, But those buds are just beautiful the way they are.

Fran

Beautiful hibiscus buds, looking forward to seeing the blossoml.
Bobbie

Kudos on the photos! They are gorgeous!

Open bloom photos:

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My guess would be that these are simply Pink Hardy Hibiscus. They don't look like the Disco Belle or the Sweet Caroline photos that I have seen. Anyone agree?

I'm not sure the ID, but wow, those are fabulous!
Great job!!

Wow, Wow, Wow. Can't decide which pic is more beautiful, the buds or the full open flower.

You go girl, get seeds and sow more.

Fran

Thank you all for the nice comments and sharing my excitement. :-)
I received a new Nikon camera for Christmas of 2005 and I was thrilled with it! My first digital camera. Very disappointed when it was stolen in May of 2006. No more photos the rest of the summer. Christmas of 2006 I received another new camera, this time a Canon and very happy with it. It has some capabilities but I find it so easy to just leave it on automatic and point and shoot. It does have the macro mode? feature. That's about the only feature I've learned to use. [g] What a difference these digital cameras are to the old film cameras and the disposables which we used for way too many years. So, I really get a kick out of photos now. :-)

Fran, will the Hibiscus actually produce seed this far north? I thought it would get cold too fast for that, since they start blooming so late.

Pretty, pm. I think you will get seeds, just in late fall. The individual blossoms on mine are short lived, then each gets to work setting seeds. You get a good many seeds in a pod.
When is your first frost?

Karen

oooh yummy ! I donated Pink Hardy seeds to the newbie collection but they are pale pink. Those deep pink ones are gorgeous.

Kathy

Great pictures, PM! What a luscious shade of pink, and I see lots more flower buds coming. It is so rewarding and satisfying to finally get such pretty flowers from a winter sown plant. I have a red Disco Belle that has just started blooming, and I almost always get seeds from it. The flowers don't last long, I bet you will get seed pods before frost.

BTW, look out for spiders hiding in the seedpods....I've been freaked out a few times by that. I don't know what the attraction is, but there's almost always one.

Alison

Karen...I am not sure about first frost. I think we can get a frost that isn't a hard frost before October 15th, but last year, it was crazy here. I still had foxglove and lupine plants green and growing in January. I suspect I probably have til at least Oct 15th if not later.

Kathy...you know what would be nice, is the pale pink and the deep pink together with maybe some Joe Pye Weed and a taller grass like Miscanthus gracillimis. Now I am trying to figure out what to pair it with for next year.

Hi Alison :-)... yes there does seem to be a few more buds and I imagine as all hibiscus the blooms last one day or so. I had to put the sprinkler on that area today and I was pleasantly surprised that the flowers on the hibiscus stood up well to the watering. That particular plant is sitting in about 4-5 hrs of sun and no more, so I am thinking if I move it to more sun, I might get more blooms next year. It is not very bushy though. Three single stems coming up from the ground with buds clustered on the top of each. I wonder if I should have pinched it back earlier or something?

Thank you so much for the warning about spiders...I would not have appreciated that surprise! I have found other seed pods with bugs in them, but never a spider...ewww! I don't like spiders but at a distance, I am willing to accept their presence for the ecological balance of the garden. That is only possible if they do their part and stay away from me..lol.

PM2, yes you will get seed pods and seeds. The pod will form right where the flower is now, inside the green edge that is around the base of the flower. Don't mistake it for another bud growing though.

It may be that you will not get all the flowers to from pods and they take at least a month or more to ripen. the pod will be brown and dry like other seed pods. Just be careful to get the pod when ripe, but not wide open.

Warning, earwig and other bug larvae lover. Collect the seeds and let them dry on a plate for only 1-2 days. Then put all the seeds in a ziplock bag, put a date on the bag and stuff it in the freezer for 2 weeks. Then take out the bag and let it stay, still sealed up, in room temperature for at least 2 weeks. Check the bag every couple of days to be sure the freezer killed any bug larvae. If you find any moving in the bag, just pop it back in the bag for another 2 weeks.
Hibiscus seeds are notorious for having bugs hatch when the temps are warm. I've had seeds come full of bugs and I know the trader didn't know about the "little darlings" waiting for the right temps to come out and say hello.

I promise, the freezer is guaranteed to work. haven't had bugs in my hibiscus seeds since I started the freezer method, before that, don't ask, you don't want to know.

Don't worry about the frost, I was getting seeds from a friends hibiscus plant a few years ago in Nov, after we had that freak early snow storm.

My DH grows hibiscus and this one looks like his Luna Red. The blooms are very large - the size of a small plate, and have been putting on a show for quite a few weeks. You may want to Google it and compare.
Northerner.

Fran...lot of good info on the seeds. Who would have thought? I will definitely try your freezer method. Thanks :-)

Northerner....I can't decide. I found two photos that were different from one another. One definitely looked true red and had more pleating to the blooms with different foliage than I have, but another photo, looked a little more toward the pink color and the foliage looked almost the same. I don't think my blossoms are that large. I will measure them and post. Thanks for the idea. :-)

Wow - thanks for the info. Had no idea I might be able to get seeds from mine - thot I was too far north. Will watch this year - love the blooms - mine are a pink - lighter than those above, but not "pale"; also think I'll have some white ones bloom this year.

And thanks also for the spider info!

Great advice on the freezer, I do that with hollyhock seeds too. I didn't know that grubs could hide inside the hibiscus seeds.

And the spiders are the kind that seem to hide inside a little nest that looks a bit like a cotton ball. Spiders creep me out too, even though I know they are beneficial.

OTOH, I love snakes! Go figure.

Beautiful blossoms. I am hoping to collect seeds from my hibiscus plants but the seedheads and stem turn brown and fall off before they can make seeds. :(

I have many seedlings growing in pots from seed trades this year. Hope to see some blooms next year.

Bobbie

I discovered this in my Butterfly Bush last night...

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Not a big surprise, since that butterfly bush is covered with bugs of all kinds 24/7...lol.

Alison, you surprised me that you like snakes. :-) I just would not have guessed you would be someone who would. I definitely dislike snakes and would be one of the few things I would not be able to accept in my yard.

OK, PM, Battle of the Creepies is on! :-) This beauty appeared in my front yard last fall.

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As I scrolled down and saw that orb-weaving spider, I literally shuddered! EEEeeeeewwww! But this black rat snake is, IMO, quite beautiful. And they eat rodents, like chipmunks. I don't think they get big enough to chow down on groundhogs, unfortunately. LOL

EEEEWWW! LOL I am sure glad I don't live near you!!
I didn't think there were snakes like that around here. Do you have any naturalized areas or tall grass near you? I didn't think you could see those in the suburbs. A garter snake is about the only snake I could tolerate at all and even that I would do my best to get out of my environment. I will take the chipmunks and the groundhogs, thank you very much! :-)

Okay...time to look at something less creepy [g]...here are some visitors to our Butterfly Bush at night and during the day. Have any friendly visitors to your yard? :-)

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Oh, PM, what beautiful pics of butterflies! I think I've posted this one before. It's the only butterfly that has ever stood still long enough for me to take a pic.

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I live next to protected wetlands, and I have a little pond, so I'm sure that's what attracted that snake to my garden.

Can you withstand some froggy photos? They love my little pond.

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I'd post photos of my goldfish, but they never photograph well. Oh, I also have some very fuzzy, bad photos taken through the window of a hummingbird moth feeding at my monarda, but I'm not posting those, they are so bad. You can hardly make out the moth.

Thanks for the pictures of butterflies, they are so pretty!

The first two pics of mine were moths that I took at night and the last two were daytime butterflies. I liked your butterfly photo too. You really got a good view of his whole wing span, which I keep trying to do. I just snap a lot of pics and then blow some of the better ones up. I can't get them to stay still and get close enough either. [g]

Aha! So that is the reason you get the snakes! Ok, now I feel better. My yard is so dry and no high grass, so I think I am safe. [g] We do have a neighbor with a very tiny water feature with a pump, but I would be surprised if that attracted anything.

I LOVE your frog photos! That last one is a good one. He looks like he was posing. lol You must get a lot of enjoyment from the pond.

Thanks for sharing your pond pics! Way better than the snake pics. [g]