Incidentally, if you would like to see the native Hawaiian hibiscus you can go to either of the websites http://ravenel.si.edu/botany/pacificislandbiodiversity/hawaiianflora/result2.cfm http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/hibiscus.htm

Yes that is the state flower. I don't know what exactly they use to symbolize H. brackenridgei but usually people may use any yellow cultivar of the common H. rosa-sinensis. Otherwise, H. brackenridgei (ma'o hau hele) should be used as a symbol for our state. The only drawback to H. brackenridgei is its coarse texture, and its appearance which may not be as attractive (depending on opinion) as the H. rosa-sinensis cultivars. It is best grown as a specimen plant reaching large shrub to small tree size. If conditions are favorable (dry, and with the right soil) the plant will have much smaller leaves, the branch structure will appear more compact, and the plant will be shorter. It is possible to prune this species. Many books (e.g. books on the states of the U.S.) have pictures of hybrid red and yellow hibiscuses for Hawai'i's state flower. The state flower was formerly Hibiscus kokio (Koki'o'ula'ula) but in many books and to many people the state flower was known as the red hibiscus (probably H. rosa sinensis. Some books just say Hibiscus). Today H. brackenridgei is the state flower, but even in Hawai'i most people may often think of any yellow hibiscus as our state flower. Any yellow Hibiscus (usually in the H. rosa-sinensis species) with flowers about 4-6 inches long is usually used as a substitute for H. brackenridgei.

Jay ----I have gravel mulch (medium sized river rock pebbles) on the entire property, front and back. We hauled in tons. It comes with pros and cons. CONS---- digging is more difficult + you have to push the gravel away if digging up a plant, otherwise you bury the gravel. I am in the process of thinning out some grasses and I don't use a shovel for this reason. I'm using a hori-hori knife so I don't do too much disturbance to the gravel. A hoe like woods tea described wouldn't work either. You have to get down on your knees and pull stuff in gravel, often working your fingers into the space between the pebbles to grab hold of the weed. It gets washed down or buried under soil if on a slope or sometimes just during a heavy rain even when not on much of a slope. Gravel can work itself down pretty deep over time. Seeds come up very easy in it, that can be a pro or a con. It works both ways for me Your knees get sore if you garden like me and like to squat down with your knee or knees on the ground. When you rake leaves, you also rake gravel and I really hate leaves on my gravel. I have to sort out what I rake up so I don't toss my "we paid for that gravel and I ain't tossing it" gravel. PROS----It looks great and of course never breaks down. Its kind of the same effect you get when it snows and the garden looks neat with all that consistent layer of white around the plants instead of dark soil or leaves etc. You can go out right after a rain and walk around. It melts the snow off fast in winter and keeps the ground warmer on sunny winter days which we have a lot of. Its also good for drainage or plants that don't like wet feet or suffer crown rot on winter, it wicks away water rather than holding it around the plant base and it keeps the soil moist down low and provides a good sponge on top so water soaks in fast compared to compacted dry soil where you easily get runoff when it gets dry. We put in a deep layer of coarse sand under the river rock which also helps with good drainage. I keep it well weeded but weeds are easy to pull in that sandy soil and I like weeding so its not a problem for me to keep the parts clear that I want to stay clear. I do a lot of weeding in the gravel. I agree with woodstea, you don't need (or want) to add nitrogen. I don't think wood chip types of mulch look right around prairie plants myself, its too artificial and urban-flower-beddish looking. I've seen some yards where people leave swaths of trimmed grass creating defined areas set off by large, usually curved areas of prairie or tall grasses that grow pretty thick. It looks very neat, well defined yet still natural and in a case like that you wouldn't need mulch of any kind, the plants would shade the soil. Just cut it back in spring (easy). I have to trim everything by hand, one plant at a time, because we tossed the mower and besides, you wouldn't want to mow over or around the area with small pebbles that could fly out, those pebbles have a way of escaping from where they were put. We have several large rocks among the gravel and I like the way they look, especially in winter but they tend to get a bit lost in summer.

Susan, Sorry not to get back with you sooner...I was out of town. I think you nailed it with the H. dasycalyx! Not 100% sure, but if it's not, it's darn close! I've got lots of seeds, though! I had taken a couple of seed pods, then caught my 11 yo dd over there gathering handfuls of pods! LOL! She told me we had to have this hibiscus in our yard. Isn't that great?? I told her not to take too many-she'd strip it if I've let her! Now I've just got to clean them up. I also picked up some honeyball bush ball-things, but I'm not sure exactly what part are the seeds. Got any ideas? They almost look like dried up monarda heads, but smaller. And they come apart like gaillarda. I think that part is the seeds. But, I want to be sure. HW