Actually that was a too cute answer...but the girl is on the mark. What is lost in western culture is the 'working' with Bonsai...getting your hands dirty, enjoying the art, breaking a nail, looking at something in a 10 gallon nursery pot or in the ground--seeing the tree then working it to what you have in mind. Not the instant gratification and just it sitting there so your friends can say 'Oh, that's a cute tree, where did you buy it?' The oldest form of what you want out of a bottle is 'petting a tree'...no it's not some kinky thing. Spend some time with your trees and literally 'pet' the foliage like you would pet a cat or dog...ya really!!! You run your hand over the foliage in the direction in which it grows, smoothly and gently, every time you are around the tree. Since the natural reaction is adversion to touch guess what happens...yep. You will still have to prune but the internodal spacing will be much closer and the foliage much more dense. Try it sometime. Oh...it won't happen overnight...takes a little while.

Thank you ianna.It was not rootbound-i think,but i am not sure if i remeber this fact well.Only know if it was i would do something about and did not plant it.Possibly the reason is hardpacked clay and i am going to check it.Thank you very much for your advice,i appreciate it greatly. Hala.

No, it's a whole collection of new cultivars of tropical hibiscus that are called Cajun Hibiscus. There are probably at least 60 or 70 different ones, but they go by their cajun name. The collection was created by a Loyola professor who also served as the president of the New Orleans chapter of the American Hibiscus Society and a breeder at a nursey in Plaquemine, La. Some of their names are "envie' "cajun blue" "Voodoo Queen" "creole lady" and so on. I will try to post a link to a site that has a lot of them to see...this site does sell and I am not trying to promote that, just posting it for pictures and info only. They are a very beautiful collection and what I like the best is that the flowers are huge and the plants are very vigorous growers. Many blooms are 7-9 inches across. I have a bunch of these, they are the only ones I buy now - one big downfall though....they are sterile and do not produce seed!!! BUT, they do take from cuttings...so this fall I plan on rooting all that I can to trade!! Hope this helps!! God bless!! Here is a link that might be useful: Cajun Hibiscus

Hi everybody. I guess I should have looked for help here a long time ago, but since I have yet to kill the tree living in my house there's always hope. First off, let me say that I am COMPLETELY IGNORANT about hibiscus. I do have halberd-leaf mallows in the yard, but they're native and don't ask me for anything. The trouble is this: I have a hibiscus that was given to me as a cutting when I was a sophomore in high school, and it has patiently suffered my ignorance for 20 years and is now a 6 foot tree. My lack of knowledge has only slighly improved since I learned just last year that it is a hibiscus schizopetalus after spotting one in a butterfly park down south. It did bloom nicely as a young plant but since then has maybe put out one or two blooms in the past 5 years. Other than keeping it looking a healthy shade of green I am sure I have been doing everything wrong. What do I need to do to coax this plant to bloom? Here's what I know about it: started from a cutting in 85 Transplanted only when it began to show signs of serious decline I live in southern Illinois--it gets put outside in the late spring and brought back in this time of year. We live in deep woods so full sun is a rare thing...good for ginseng, not for hibiscus! In winter it gets a sunny window when indoors. Our house is kept at around 70 during this time. Space is an issue so I was forced to dramatically prune it back every so many years. Currently in a pot approx 13-14 inch diam. Rarely fertilized except at transplant time and then lightly I spoke to a horticulturist at the butterfly park where I spotted this growing and was told never to prune after February. Not a single bud this season. This is almost like a part of the family now since it has made it this far. We decorate it for Christmas for Pete's sake. I just wonder what to do to get it to flower again.