Seed bugs! Wow, I've never seen or heard of those, thank goodness we don't get them here as I've got a large hibiscus myself.

On a side note, it just goes to show how important the 'proper' Latinised names are as our Rose of Sharon is the hypericum calycinum, a totally different plant to the hibiscus!

Gill

Oh thank you for the identification! After reading your comments I actually thought about it and I've never seen any bugs actively eating on the leaves. This was a very small plant when my mother gave it to me and it has grown so much! I wanted it to be big though. It's in the area of my porch where it gets plenty of shade and just enough sunlight that it needs. I had my elephants ears in that area but they did not come back up this year. ( my fiance had moved them...before that, they came back like clockwork.) I'm really hoping to have this plant reproduce...I wouldn't mind one or two extra. I absolutely love the blooms! I was just worried that the bugs would eventually kill my plants. I'll research some bug and other pest sprays to see what I can find. Thank you Rina!!!

Heather

Look for seedlings around, I just took these snapshots thru the fence - there is at least 20 seedlings on their side (and few holes chewed on them just the same!) :

Heather, I wouldn't run out to find a bug spray unless you are sure what is eating the leaves and if it is really 'dangerous' level...it is fall after all, and plants leaves are falling off. It is most likely some caterpillar. You would need to see it to hopefully find out what it will turn into - some are beautiful and desirable butterflies, others are pollinating moths, and some are destructive. But as I said, unless they cause big damage I wouldn't use any chemicals. Bad bugs like Japanese beetles are gone (I mean adults, their eggs already hatched and larvae is in the soil - they get deeper as it get colder and overwinter there). In the meantime, you could be killing beneficials.

The Hibiscus genus has several hundred species, one can make tea using flowers, some are used as vegetables, and there is a species used to make paper...

Gill

H. calycinum is commonly called St. John's worth around here IIRC... Do you have one of the large-flowering types? do you overwinter yours in GH?

Thanks Rina I didn't even stop to think about that! I'll definitely wait on using any kind of chemicals!

Rina, yes, to add even more confusion, St. John's Wort is indeed yet another common name for Hypericum calycinum over here! My hibiscus (type is rosa-sinensis I think) is one of the large flowered hybrids which is now safely tucked away in the g/h as you rightly suspected.

Gill

Rina I went out and looked under the leaves and this is what I've found...

what do you think these bugs could be? And do you think these are what's eating the plant?

It is hard to id for sure, they could be aphids - quite 'normal' to find some in the garden. They suck the juices out of the leaves, and are usually taken care of by beneficial predators like lady bugs. That doesn't look like large infestation and they would not chew chunks of leaves off. You could just take a hose and spray them off - very often, that is enough. Only if there are large colonies of them some help with insect spray may be needed.

Check if any whitish webs are visible - they are usually mealy bugs - but I am not aware of mealy bugs attacking these plants (but everything is possible). Here is how they look:

They are quite small and you can see white, cotton like 'webbing' - I do not think they are on your shrub. Mealy bugs often attack succulents, btw. You'll find lots of posts on this forum about them.

Those little critters top left could be glasshouse whitefly nymphs or the cast of skins of moulted adults, difficult to see from that pic. I would get a general purpose insecticide and give the leaves a good dousing top and bottom, it should help rid them whatever they are! Add a spot of washing up liquid to make it stick to the leaf better.

Gill