Friday, July 26, 2013

Heat Waves & Hibiscus

It's almost three weeks since my last post. It's just been so hot for so long here in Philly. I feel like I have spent more time watering than enjoying the garden these weeks. That's not entirely true, but during much of the oppressive weather, I've stayed indoors in the A/C except for early mornings and late evenings. I've missed a few events, like the first bloom on the Night Blooming Cereus, which was on the back of one plant, and never noticed til the next morning. Several nights later, six opened on one night in between thunderstorms. We missed those, too.

Despite a few heavy downpours, I've still needed to spot water in places where the pots received little or no rain because of wind direction or overhangs. The extremely leafy plants like the hydrangeas always get shortchanged in the rain as well. The neighbors think I'm crazy some mornings, out with the hose, while the ground is still wet.

Front Roof (Baltimore Ave side) with H. Lord Baltimore 
We're still in Hardy Lily season, with more of the Orientals blooming, and some of the newest Tiger Lilies about to open. Fortunately, when the Lilies begin to slow down, the Hardy Hibiscus and Caladiums start to take over.

H. Lord Baltimore
The Hardy Hibiscus of the Malvaceae are sort of funny things. They are one of the last things to break dormancy in late spring. They grow quickly once the weather warms. The huge flowers are surreal in many ways, lasting only one day and looking like they are made of crepe paper. Because the flowers are so large, they are perfect plants for our roof garden. The scale of the flowers allows them to "read" from a distance. There are two red "Lord Baltimore" with deeply lobed leaves, as well as two of the red H. moscheutos hybrids, which have a saw-toothed heart-shaped leaf. We also have two pink "Lady Baltimore" on the side roof. They are almost demure compared to the reds.
Side Roof (47th St side) with H. Lady Baltimore. 

Tumbling over the edge are a number Nasturtiums and the newly added Clematis. To give more color over the summer I planted Caladium "Red Flash" along the roof edge of the planters. You can see one or two of the leaves in this photo, though they are perpendicular to the photo. There is also a tub of purple Phlox  near the dining room window, which gives a nice fragrance when we have the windows open. We live 'Venetian style' with our public rooms on the second floor, a piano nobile with a garden surrounding these second floor rooms.
H. Lady Baltimore

These hardy hibiscus will give us several weeks of bloom. Once all of the buds have opened, side shoots will produce additional, somewhat smaller blooms. I learned by accident several years back, that cutting the stems back results in side shoots that are not strong enough to support the weight of the blooms.

H. Lord Baltimore cutting. 
One year, pulling some weeds around the base of our bronze leaved "Kopper King" Hibiscus, I knocked a new stem free from the plant. It was the second year that we had it, and I was disappointed to lose the potential blooms. On a chance, I took the stem in and put it in water. Within a few days it had developed roots. I put it in a pot and covered it with a clear plastic bottle cut off at the base. I left the cap off for ventilation. Within a few weeks new leaf growth had begun, so I removed the plastic bottle. I kept the cutting in the shade another week, and eventually moved it into the sun. The single stem grew but did not bloom that summer. The following summer, it grew two stems and had blooms on both.

H. Luna White 
This year almost two months ago, I took cuttings from three of our Hardy Hibiscus. Of the dozen or so that originally rooted in water, three H. Lord Baltimore have survived. I'm planning on adding these to the perennial plantings along the 47th St. sidewalk in the early fall in hopes of them blooming next spring.  The Luna series plants supposedly start easily from seed. I am going to be more intentional this fall in collecting seeds and will try to sow some in the spring.

Speaking of collecting seeds, a neighbor has a patch of Hibiscus I did not discover until late fall, when the flowers were gone, but the distinctive leaf structure and seed pods alerted me that it was a type of Hibiscus. I walked around to see if it was blooming yet, but it is even later than "Kopper King", so when I can start some it will be another welcome late summer bloomer. The photo shows the distinctive deeply lobed leaves. I believe it is H. coccineus, known as scarlet rosemallow. Some growers list it as growing in zones 7-10 (Philadelphia is in zone 7b, 5-10 (F)). Since it's growing again around the corner, I will hope we have some success with it next year.



H. Luna Red




I also added six un-named moscheutos-type rooted slips which I bought on eBay. The largest of these is showing some buds, so it will be interesting to see what they turn out to be. I'm pretty certain it will be a light colored flower. The leaves seem to attract a smallish dark beetle, which has left some lacy damage to the leaves.

In the fall, after the leaves have dropped, you will be left with a number of brown hollow stems. I cut these back to 6" or so from the soil. In the spring, as new growth starts, you can usually pull these old stumps away easily.

H. 'Kopper King' growing on our upper roof deck. 



Looking down on the front roof deck with H. Luna Red

H. Lord Baltimore from behind-just like stained glass. 
This is a Rose of Sharon growing in our old garden. Rose of Sharon is also in the Malvacea Family, however it is a woody shrub. It also grows quite easily from seed, and many consider it an invasive species.



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