Since nearly 40 years I’m a Hibiscus enthusiast and while living for a long time in Bahrain I started collecting those beautiful plants. Going back to Germany I took some wood with me and started allover again. Friends and siblings brought cuttings from their journeys, many friends from abroad sent during the last years wood of new varieties and I bought plants wherever I found them .
My work as a hybridizer is showing at long last some very good results, several varieties were registered with the International Cultivar Registration Authority.
Some 200 seedlings are every year under evaluation.

Since some years I’m a member of the American, the Australian and the International Hibiscus Society. For the latter I’m also a judge and trialing station for new varieties from hybridizers worldwide.

As all the literature about hibiscus is written in English, I wrote the first book together with Mrs. Baum in German language. In summer 2008 a much more detailed book was published, you can buy it at www.formosa-verlag.de.

There are a lot of Hibiscus enthusiasts all over Europe who like to share their interest, their knowledge, their plants and seeds.

To all of you a big welcome to my website.

Neither in Germany nor in other German speaking countries are at the moment any Hibiscus Societies. The German Hibiscus Society should have been formed since a long time but as I couldn't find any helping hands to share the workload we have to stick with the internet communication

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hibiskusfreunde,

e-mail address hibiskusfreunde@yahoogroups.com

or hibiskusfreunde-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.


There are no commercial interests involved, only the possibility to get to know each other and to have a better way of communication. There one can share the knowledge, experiences, pictures and might exchange plants, cuttings and seeds. The connection and cooperation with the other Hibiscus Societies (Links) might be for some a great help.

Who ever wants to know more can write to ulla@lengdobler.de
or call #49-9407-3414.

The genus Hibiscus is one of more than a100 genera of related shrubs and trees which belong to the Malvaceae-family. I just want to make a difference between the " wild " growing hibiscus species and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, the first ones are very difficult to get at the nurserys but easy to grow from seeds.

There are several others which are well worth growing, some of them can be overwintered on the sill:

• Hibiscus trionum, a small plant with lots of light yellow to cream flowers with a dark eye. Once grown in a garden bed they selfseed well and appear each summer again.

• Hibiscus burtt-davyi has lots of light pink flowers

• Hibiscus diversifolius needs space, has lovely yellow flowers with a dark eye

• Hibiscus ludwigii, the flowers are as well yellow, but bigger than H. diversifolius

• Hibiscus pedunculatus is very special; with bright pink flowers, pink staminal column and pink pollen sacs

• Hibiscus präteritus has tiny little bright red flowers

• Hibiscus sabdariffa is called Rosella, has pretty flowers and the seedpods can be used to make jam, it tastes a bit like cranberry, therefor it’s called as well “Cranberry-hibiscus”

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, also called "Rose of China" or "Queen of the Tropics" is commonly sold in supermarkets, nurserys and gardencentres in springtime in white, red, yellow, orange or pink, some with a red eye zone, some are doubles. There are so many much more beautiful hybrids given to us by hybridizers from Florida, Texas, California, Australia, Tahiti and the Netherlands. Those hybridizers performed wonders in color combination, shape and size of the blooms.

How to take care of your hibiscus

The hibiscus plants you can purchase in the garden centers, supermarkets and shops are mostly treated with growth retardents and that is one of the reasons they die on you within a short time. As less treatment they received as better the chances are that they might outgrow the treatment after 6 to 9 month, they will then start with a normal bushy growth. There is a possibility to help the plants to outgrow the growth retardant. After you have purchased such a plant take it immediately out of the pot, wash the soil off the roots and repot it in quality soil mixed with Perlite and give it the double amount of fertilizer. Be careful not to over water!

You can keep most of the plants small by pruning them, they will still flower nicely and it will not effect the size of the bloom.The hibiscus offered from special nurserys are never treated with hormones and are therefore much healthier.

To take care of the hibiscus is very easy: they like moist, but not wet soil, particularly young plants are very root sensitive. The soil should be mixed with Perlite to keep it airy. From March till October the hibiscus should be fertilized with every watering, in wintertime just in a fortnight. Use a fertilizer which is low in phophorous but high in nitrogen and potassium, containing as well all the minors. As the plants are originally coming from the tropics and subtropics they like the sun.
Placed on a sill facing the south they need some shading in summer during midday. On the balcony, porch or garden they like a sunny place, but still do well with a bit of shade for a short time. By the end of May you can bring the hibiscus outside, they will shed a few leaves and buds, but recover quickly. In autumn, when the temperatures drop to only 8°C/45°F the plants should be taken indoors again. Don`t worry if the plants drop a few leaves and buds again.
Hopefully the summer was very sunny and the plants will show another explosions of blooms till Christmas. During the wintertime very often spidermites, white flies and aphids appear on the plants, but they are easily destroyed with a miticide and an insecticide, with Neem oil all of the pests get killed.
So before bringing the plants into the house they should be sprayed two to three times within 2 weeks to kill all pests in their different stages of development. This way you can keep your hibiscus pest free till spring time when they can be placed outside again.

Propagation

To get new plants you can some hibiscus varieties easily grow from wood you get when cutting the plants back. Take medium wood cuttings, dip them in a rooting medium, place them in a pot with seed raising mixture and water well. You can either cover them with a plastic bottle or can put them in a plastic bag, closing it tightly. At a warm place (no direct sun) the rooting will take 8 to 10 weeks.

A bit more difficult is propagating by grafting. A lot of the new, big flowering varieties can only be grown successfully as grafted plants. For this you need first of all a suitable rootstock which you can grow from several different varieties. Later you can graft the scion on, see the links for this procedure:
http://www.hibiscusworld.com/
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hibiscus

If you would like more information about grafting and suitable rootstock in the colder climate just mail to ulla@lengdobler.de