Hibiscus Returns

Last summer I purchased a beautiful little hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos) at a local farmer’s market. The young man who sold it to me off the Twombly Nursery truck assured me it would be back the following year without much effort on my part, as long as I planted and watered it.

I dug the hole and placed it in the garden next to another Twombly truck purchase (he was an excellent salesman, or I was an easy mark) and enjoyed a few more flowers. I anxiously waited for it this spring, and it did come back – slowly, as is its habit – and now in the serious heat of midsummer it has popped. The photos are of the first two days flowers. Today, on day three, I see only one lone flower, facing the back fence as if ignoring me.

For years I’ve passed an auto body shop in Southport that has an east-facing bed of beautiful hardy hibiscus. I wondered what these exotic plants could be, with their dinner-plate sized blooms of red and white. Now I know – our garden is host to a beauty, and there’s a good possibility there will be more of them by next spring.


AR