Thank you garden paw :) I bought 8 different tropical hibiscus last year. They are not flowering as good as last year due to my neglect, I really need to get out there and do something with the poor things. Even some of my old larger ones froze back here when we hit in the teens. I almost lost one of my favorites 'Simple Pleasures' it was a dried dead stick in a pot until June and then...it started leafing up the stem I was so happy I almost cried LOL! Hi karyn, Yep you are right, that is Phillipine Violet. I used to have the hugest shrub along side of our house. It was just a stump when we moved in and I had no clue what it was. It grew and was kinda raggedy and then burst all into bloom overnight. No scent or anything but pretty while they last. It gets these spiny calyx things when the flowers dry up that I have stabbed myself on a few times. I have only bought a few new plants this year..otherwise the same old stuff (the ones that lived through the big freeze anyhow lol) I have been mostly growing edible garden stuff. karyn, I thought of you the other day, when I was at ACE and I saw this huge plant with those blue crown looking flowers on it.. The tag said, 'Milkweed' but not what kind. I thought you would probably know lol. It wasn't very much so I might go back and get it. It was so cool looking and I can't stop thinking about it. This new place has some cool wild plants around: blackberries, honeysuckle, trumpet vine, and a zillion bombax trees with these sweet smelling pink and white pompom flowers.

hey, i have some seeds for alyogyne. i know how hard it is to come across this plant. i spent about two years searching for seeds and finally found some. i would like to trade for some of your variegated lantana and some of your blushing bride hibiscus and if possible, some of your pink mamoth hardy hibiscus. plmk thanks jd

Thanks for all your replies. I think I will plan on keeping them potted due to the freezes we get here and they are not hardy. I need to build a kind of shelter for stuff like this and for succulents and cactus that I have so I can let the sun in at an angle but keep most of the rain off of them. I can't keep them in my greenhouse because it ends up with too many fungal problems. I am thinking about getting some of that green plastic/polycarb (?) stuff and make a large roof that would let some of the light in and leave all the sides open or maybe 3 sides open. Veronica: I would be happy to share a cutting if I ever get them that far lol :) Silvia and eric: They can't take much frost so that is probably why they declined. I kept this one on the back patio and it got direct morning sun and shaded afternoon. It got plenty of heat from the gravel surrounding the patio back there and the stone wall of the house probably released some heat on the cooler nights as well. It is a really good bloomer and just flushes and flushes as long as it happy. Too bad no fragrance! katkin: It seems like there are a few plants called 'blue hibiscus'. I have even seen some of the Rose of Sharon's called that. The Rose of sharon is much more cold tolerant and easier to grow though. The Alyogyne have slightly coarse ferny type foilage.

gardengal48... So Friday Was my very first visit to the Plant Depot... Let me just say... I am IN LOVE!!! They had ordered both the "super" 1 gallons and 5 gallons waiting for me. To my surprise the "super" 1 gallon size looked much bigger than I had imagined they would. I walked out of there with 4 "super" 1 gallon Limelights and 2 bags of Acid Soil Ammendment. I really had to use a serious amount of self control and restraint to keep myself from buying more. I think I may have a plant addiction... HELP!!!... ;-) I can't wait to get these hydrangeas in the ground and growing for me. Based on the information on the tag, it says that they're the hardiest of all the Hydrangeas... needing less water and being able to take more sun, than many of the other Hydrangea varieties out there, once they're established. So I'm hopeful that I will have much more success with these Hydrangeas than the other ones I've planted in the past. I CAN'T wait to go back to The Plant Depot and do some more garden dreaming... such a cool place. Thanks again for leading me towards The Plant Depot. I would not have known to check them out if it had not been for you... :-) I'll have to snap some photos sometime and share. Thanks again for all your help!