Hibiscus Year Two!

With the beginning of Fall Emilie's hibiscus, that we held over from last summer, is finally flowering.  It was touch and go early spring with most of the plant dying off.  This one stem, with some extra TLC, survived and is now in full bloom!

Unfortunately, the flowers don't last long but man-o-man are they beautiful!

It's Hibiscus Blooming Time, 2012

Our lone hibiscus plant is in the midst of blooming!

The flowers are absolutely beautiful, just wish they lasted longer.

Anyway, where there is a hibiscus plant the dreaded hibiscus sawfly isn't too far behind, see top picture above.  It's been that way ever since we first planted ours several years ago.  I visit the plant daily and squish the sawfly worms, which seem endless.  They do a number eating the leaves, see above, and this example of an eaten leaf is not too bad.

Fortunately, the sawfly doesn't seem too bright or fast.  I'm able to catch them with relative ease and squish them.  Now the potatoe beatle is sneaky and fast, they're harder to catch.  But in the end, they all squish the same, which is well worth it as long as the plants can reap the benefits.

Awesomely Stunning, Yes!

Back in early August our Hibiscus bloomed for the first time in 2011. The blooms were stunning and BIG, as we've come accustomed to (this plant has us spoiled) the last couple of three or four years now.

We planted it and have left it alone and do not bring indoors come the fall. It's planted against the back of the house and I'm guessing the foundation keeps it protected enough from our harsh New England winters, as it happily reappears each summer.



And each year, along with the awesome flowers, the damaging Hibiscus Sawfly arrives too. You can see the damage that the larva inflict if left alone and uncontrolled, they'll decimate the foliage in short order.



Here is what the Hibiscus Sawfly larva looks like. With the exception of fertilizing our lawn, we do NOT use chemicals to control the bad insects that arrive each year and attack our vegetables and flowers. Instead, I hand pick or squash the offenders. Perhaps, it's not the most effective but it's certainly much safer. The chickens also win as they often times get to reap what I collect.



But alas with Fall upon us this beauty is shutting down and will soon be closing shop until next Spring, sleep tight.

P.S. Did you all notice the lovely bracelet in the first picture above, HMM?!?! If interested and you'd would like to see others, please let me know! We have many, many more available. They make excellent gifts!

Visiting Pest - Hibiscus Sawfly

We have a beautiful Hibiscus that is in it's third summer that sports super BIG pink flowers. We have it planted in a corner out back against the foundation of the house on one side and the stockade fence on the other. This seems to be an ideal spot for it to overwinter, as it's been coming up every summer since being planted. This surprise me a little being that the Hibiscus is a tropical plant and we're here in New England, zone 6 - I'm guessing it's one of the hardy varieties. The only care given, outside of watering, is that we cut it back in the fall.

It's yet to bloom this summer but well on the way, yippee! However, this summer it's also attracted one of it's well known nemesis - the Hibiscus Sawfly - Atomacera decepta. As you can see from the picture below, the larva stage, is quite destructive and does a number on the foliage. They're small enough to squish with your fingers and not too messy, so I try to visit the plant once a day to kill as many of these pest as possible, as we anxiously await the flower's arrivals!


Larva stage - Hibiscus Sawfly


Adult stage - Hibiscus Sawfly

You might try yourself a Hibiscus cocktail, which is made with champagne and cranberry juice.