Hi Susan, I would like to trade with you for some of your mutabilis hibiscus seeds. Please check my trade list to see if there is anything of interest there for you. Carol

Hi everyone, I've posted here-and-there about how happy I am to finally have some H. mutabilis myself. I started them from stem cuttings over the winter (easily rooted in plain water). They've been outside in the ground since February and they're growing like crazy and seem really happy, although every now and then one super young leaf will suddenly turn brown and fall off, but I'm attributing that to heat burn. In any case, I've got several of them growing really well right now but not a single sign of blooms, so I thought I'd check with our local growers about when their plants bloom. Sooo, warm-winter/hot-summer folks, can you share what times of years your Confederate roses bloom? I'm hoping that it's spring/autumn and that I just need to wait for the Blast Furnace months to be over, but any first hand experience with bloom time would be great. I don't have any good pics of the whole plants right now as I'm typing, but here's one from last month and you can see at the VERY bottom some of the foliage sneaking into the pic, LOL. Thanks as always! Take care, Grant

Thanks Tulsarose for the link. It doesn't speak to the origin of Hibiscus mutabilis 'Rubrum' ( I called it "Rubrus', but think it is better known as 'Rubrum'. Some experts also now think it's a paramutabilis hybrid due to technical characteristics of its flower bud bracts and it's stipules(those little finger like green bracts that surround each bud. Stipules are those short pointy growths near where the leaf stem(petiole) joins the branch stem. Monrovia started selling this hibiscus in the early '60's, but they don't know where this seedless variety came from. It must be a man-made or natural hybrid.

Your plant looks like insect damage has occurred . I am seeing very similar holes and chunks taken out of leaves . Here the larger bites are caused by grasshoppers - small green ones and medium green ones with brown wings . I have also found caterpillars doing extensive damage to lots of ornamentals . I have seen tropical sod web worms , azalea caterpillars , crape myrtle caterpillars , green hornworms , the list goes on . They produce the smaller , round holes . I sprayed with Insecticidal soap and that helped . I also used BT ( Bacillus Thurengiensis ) and earlier when it was a little cooler - Ultrafine Horticultural Oil I used a hose end sprayer each time . These sprays only work on contact when you can actually see the critter doing the damage . It does not work on grasshoppers . As usual with the garden , there is no easy answer . I have a feeling time will take care of the damage by bringing us cooler weather and no more caterpillars . Here is what UF says about your plant : " The major insect pest of hardy hibiscus is the caterpillar-like larva of the hibiscus sawfly, (Atomacera decepta). Several of these larvae often feed on the same leaf or plant and can quickly defoliate the entire plant. Other pests include whiteflies, mealy bugs, grasshoppers and spider mites. The primary diseases are various leaf spots caused by Cladosporium, Cercospora, Phyllosticta and other fungi. " Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy Hibiscus for Florida Landscapes