Okay, Rose of Sharons! Gotcha! Their blooming period is in late summer. I grow those too. The flowers are the same, only smaller. Mine are small trees or large shrubs. I have white with pink eyes and a very pretty lavender one. There are four new ones that Keesha sent me last spring in a plant trade that haven't bloomed yet. They are really growing. Anxious to see those heirlooms from her mother bloom. (Thanks Keesha. Hope your Corkscrew willows are growing well for you. One of the Pussy Willows made it and doing really well, too) ;) So...Rose of Sharon, like Crepe Myrtles, are summer blooming shrubs/small trees. Everything has its own time. For these, that is mid-to-late summer. ~Annie

You can dead head by snapping off the part of the bloom that has the green leaflets, anywhere along that small stem would be fine. A little fertilizer would be good. Leave a few heads on, so you can get some seeds if you want more hibiscus. They grow easily from seed. Glenda

I have had a tropical hibiscus in a container for about 10 years now and put it outside every summer. mimidi - by the time you let the pot dry out, the leaves would be wilted, so you want to give them regular watering before it gets to the wilt stage. After awhile, you'll be able to tell when to water. If you let it go too dry and then flood it (and then continue to do that sort of watering), the leaves will start to yellow and fall off and that might give you the impression that it is dying (but it is only reacting to the sudden changes in the environmental conditions). Believe it or not, a couple weeks ago, I watched my little female actually land on a branch of my hibiscus next to a flower that was due to open that day. The flower was still rolled up and she attempted to stick her beak into it, which was kindof interesting. So perhaps she knows what it is....

ArenâÂÂt they WONDERFUL, Misty? Since theyâÂÂre so âÂÂtropicalâ looking, many people are surprised to find out theyâÂÂre hardy when they first see them. ThatâÂÂs a great color you have! I love red! I think the flowers on that variety are usually bigger than you got this year, and IâÂÂm thinking that maybe when itâÂÂs more established next year or the year after, you might get flowers up to 8 or 9". There are varieties that truly get up to âÂÂdinner plate size,â up to 10 or 12" sometimes. WouldnâÂÂt it be nice if the individual flowers lasted longer?!! If youâÂÂd be interested in another variety, IâÂÂll have seeds for âÂÂDisco Belle Pinkâ available again when Bonnie does her seed exchange over winter! IâÂÂm not sure of this, but from what IâÂÂve seen, I think âÂÂDisco Belleâ grows into more of a âÂÂbushâ shape than some of the other varieties. IâÂÂve posted pics of this one before, but here it is again! The flowers are about 7-8". And this is the shape of the plant after (I think) about 4 or 5 years. With yours, cut the stems all the way down after itâÂÂs completely dormant in late fall or early winter, and next spring, REMEMBER, they come up VERY late! One year mine didnâÂÂt get going until the beginning of June! But when they start growing, BOY, to they ever GROW! If you leave the seedpods dry on yours, you should also be able to easily collect seed. When they dry all the way, the seeds fall out very easily. (And the pods are good dried arrangement material!) IâÂÂm not sure if all the varieties come true from seed, but even if they didnâÂÂt, you could wind up with a very interesting color. âÂÂDisco Belleâ does come true from seed. Thanks for the wonderful pictures! Skybird P.S. When you cut them down I recommend you DONâÂÂT put the stems on the compost pile! They take YEARS to decompose! At least on my pile they do!