More Hibiscus. Hibiscus are weirdly common in Seattle, considering the climactic maladaptation (like growing Fuchsias in Houston). Most of them are either H. syriacus, which I have but which is not blooming, or hybrids between that and other things, a lot of them weird triploid things that are sterile.
Mine are mostly natural plants, except for one very un-natural (but fertile) hybrid from Texas ("we make 'em bigger and better in Texas"):
I'm pretty sure it is a hybrid between H. grandiflorus of the Gulf Coast, and H. x'Southern Belle', which in turn is a hybrid between H. moscheutos and H. coccineus (more moscheutos than coccineus--it was back-crossed to look more like moscheutos).
Too bad there is nothing nearby suitable to show the scale of the thing; it is roughly "the size of a dinner plate". I have an old picture of it next to my daughter. It looks like something straight out of Oz (as in, the Frank Baum series). The whole plant is getting huge with age; I've had it a while. My wife complains that it blooms so late, it does not look it's best. Today has been windy and rainy. I had a hard time getting this shot with the wind. The fact that the giant flowers catch the breeze like a sail has been a problem with this one.
This one should be very familiar to many of you:
I do not know if it is pure H. moscheutos--the common giant Hibiscus of the Mississippi drainage, that used to grow along its banks. It is one of the world's coldhardiest Hibiscus, a tough thing common in gardens in farming towns in and out of its native range. A while ago the Japanese crossed them with H. coccineus, and then back-crossed them and stabilized the hybrid, to produce giant-flowered Hibiscus in reds, pinks, whites, and bicolors (typically red or pink with a scarlet center). This might be such a hybrid, or not. It came un-named and on sale. Had no idea what color it was before it bloomed. This one sat in a pot too long waiting for its spot to be planted out.
Already posted this one earlier:
Hibiscus sino-syriacus, from southwestern China. My wife's favorite.
