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January 16, 2003
In the family
The Hibiscus family adds colour to any garden, writes Zahrah Nasir
The word ‘Hibiscus’ generally conjures up a picture of large, dark red, single blooms which seem to dance like ballerinas, in the slightest breeze.
These shrubby plants, with woody stems and glossy green leaves, are found in gardens throughout the ‘plains areas’ of the country and perform particularly well in the overcrowded, oft polluted, cities of Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Peshawar. Taken for granted, and not particularly some gardeners delight who, unfortunately, consider them to be too common to be of importance, this family of plants does, however, deserves far more attention.
Sticking to the well known form of Hibiscus for the moment, readers may like to know that many new varieties, colours and colour combinations are now in the market.
Ranging in height from dainty semi-dwarf (20 inches tall) up to full size (6ft plus), with blooms that can be a spectacular 10 inches across, although 6 inches is more often found, they come in all the colours of the rainbow. Usually they are found in reds but there is also a variety of dark and light pinks, white, cream, apricot, yellow and a wonderful bronzy orange which I recently spotted in a nursery in NWFP. The latter was absolutely stunning and, naturally enough, I wanted to purchase one on the spot and was most disappointed when the nursery owner explained that he only had one plant left and was reserving it for propagation but, that I could have a plant after about six months.
Many of these wonderful flowers are now found as ‘Double-doubles’ but the single ones, many with sparkling white centres to help bees and other nectar loving insects find their food source in double quick time, have an attraction all of their own.
Hibiscus enjoy both full sun and partial shade and bloom almost all the year round in hot spots such as Karachi and Hyderabad, taking a short winter break in cooler places such as Islamabad. They like rich, well drained soil and must be kept watered in the summer or else the flowers will drop off first, closely followed by the leaves, after which .... forget it!
If growing tall hibiscus, for example those that reach up to 6ft and more, they should be planted about 4ft apart, bearing in mind that they are quite bushy too. Smaller varieties are quite happily grown in large size plant pots either out in the garden proper or tastefully arranged on verandas or terraces.
If pruning is required then this should be done, lightly I may add, during the winter months. Any healthy cuttings, on reasonably young wood and no more than 6 inches long with strong leaf growth at the tip, can be immediately pushed into good compost, preferably in pots, transferred to a sunny location, kept moist but not wet whilst you cross your fingers in the hope that they will thrive and multiply. Even if you yourself do not require more hibiscus plants then I’m sure someone out there does and may be you can do a swap for something which you don’t have. It is always good to trade plants in this way and you never know what you might get in return!
Hibiscus can also be grown from seed. Seeds are very tough coated and rather finicky to start off. Each seed should be scored with a knife and then soaked in warm water. The seeds have an inbuilt timing mechanism and will sink when they are ready for planting. Germination takes 15 to 30 days and, occasionally, as long as 40 to 50 days so don’t give up hope!
Recommended varieties include:
Semi-dwarf: ‘Disco Belle’ mixed which flowers in only a few months from seed, starting to bloom when only 12 inches or so high. Flowers can be 9 inches across in shades of rose, red, white with a scarlet eye or shell pink.
Medium size to 4ft: ‘Galaxy mixed, produces huge blooms, up to 10 inches across, in shades similar to the above.
Tall growing to 6ft plus: ‘Southern Belle’ which was developed by that well known seed company, Sakata of Japan which is currently flooding our seed outlets with Fl Hybrids, produced enormous flowers on fairly hardy, fast growing plants.
Taking things a step further, you may be interested to know that Hibiscus belong to the ‘Malvaceae’ family of plants which also includes Hollyhocks, Mallows, Abutilons, the stately ‘Bombax’ tree, Cotton, Malvas and the humble ‘bindi’!
Of the above mentioned plants Hollyhocks, Mallows and Malvas all require similar growing conditions, light shade or sun, depending on the time of year, well drained soil and plenty of water during the flowering period. These three varieties of plants, all have distinctly hibiscus shaped flowers and are all delightful if planted enmasse, particularly against shrubs of a darker green which then really sets off the flowers. Hollyhocks come in all colours these days and are either double or single. Mallows are generally single flowered in shades of pale pink and white, Malvas have moved into a class of their own now and are to be found in white, blue / purple and white / purple, the most interesting being ‘Mystic Merlin’ - blue shades and ‘Zebrina’, white with deep purple streaks.
Abutilons are shrubs, mostly perennial, though annuals can be found, and their delicate bell shaped flowers, often in reds but also pink, yellow, apricot and cream, and they require the same growing conditions as hibiscus. Bombax trees, locally known as ‘Sumbal’ we will leave for those with acres of land, cotton we will leave to agriculturalists but ‘Bindi’can be grown at home. They don’t take up much space, their yellow hibiscus type flowers are very pretty and bindi is bind!
Bindi seeds should be treated exactly the same as hibiscus seeds, re scoring and soaking, but need to be planted directly in their growing location afterwards.
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