Patty, that's a gorgeous Hibiscus. The blooms last just one day but you'll have tons of flowers when the plant is more mature. Your's probably is just reacting to being brought indoors and will straighten up in a day or two. It will need lots of light and you'll want to be sure the soil is moist...not soggy.

* * * *
Rosie z7a

Patty, I think the Manihout is a Tropical Hibiscus but let Jimmy give you pointers. The "rule of thumb" is to bring them in when temps hit 50 and below. If you are still having decent daytime temps, it probably won't hurt it to take it outside each day. They do love the sunshine!!!

I just brought in my one and only tropical yesterday (it got down to 35 overnight) and sat her in front of a south facing window. They go into full dormancy here and drop all their leaves within a few weeks of coming inside. I've never had success with keeping them going in a "green" mode over the winter.

Years ago, I had one that kept its foliage and even bloomed sporadically...I even decorated it as a Christmas tree one year. It was a real hoot to see the look on people's faces when they saw it. I managed to kill that poor beauty by not bringing her inside early enough and the deep freeze got her.

Almost forgot the other question...mine has never set seed pods, indoors or out. Must be sterile.

* * * *
Rosie z7a

Patty I leave all my tropicals outside until the night time (just before dawn) temps get to 44 and dropping then I bring them in also don't keep your house too hot as there is no air movement in most homes. I try to keep my inside temps at 78 for a high and 68 for a low keep my ceiling fan on all the time to keep air moving. I am surprised it bloomed the first year normally mine haven't bloomed until the second year. Mine sometimes drop leaves when I bring them in but not always. I posted my plants I brought in in Container Gardening you can see for yourself how they look. My house is now a rain forest. Notice the Morning glory tree blooms they put on new each night. Hibiscus blooms normally onl;y last one day so enjoy the beauty while they are in bloom. Did you notice bees outside before you brought the plant in, Did it start blooming outside before it was brought in? If so they may have gotten to it other wise your seed pod may well be sterile but never hurts to plant and see anyway things happen you know.

* * * *
Meet Clyde my Male Sugar Glider. Clyde says Keep it organic.
GOD BLESS THE U.S.A. Pray for our Troops! Jimmy's Photos
Jimmy's Blog

Thanks for all the info, Jimmy. I'll keep it inside. I just cleared all my 'winter-overs' out of the dining room (so we can use the table for a change) & put them all on top of the piano, with a high spectrum fluorescent light above them. There is a ceiling fan in this room that's almost always on, as I keep the wood stove going a lot in the wintertime, so it should get plenty of air flow.

The only thing I have to worry about is keeping everything watered, as the air is pretty dry with the wood heat. I also need to do what njoynit suggested & keep water trays around them, like I do for my Orchids. (In fact, I think I should set up the humdifier on the piano.) My Pepper, Basil, Parlor Maple & tomato plants dont mind the extra heat when the stove is going... in fact, they love that. If the hibiscus doesn't like the heat, I can always set it on the floor where it's cooler.

As you can see, it only has a few little leaves on it. (They might be new ones.)

So, do you think it's going to keep on during the winter, or is this stalk going to turn into a "dead stick" like the Copper King does?

I didn't pay attention to whether there were any bees around before I brought the Manihot in, but there was really nothing to the pods of the couple flowers it made, so I didn't get any seeds from it.

Now I'm going over to the Container forum to see your plant pics.......

* * * *

Patty I was looking at your pic!! What does the sign say that the rabbit is holding??

* * * *


Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, Faith looks up!
http://photobucket.com/albums/e374/2thtek/

I need that for hubby but have it say "Don't think of harming a hair on these plants!"

you can get a cast iron pot for top of wood stove and keep water in and can add scents(orange peels,cinnamon,apples.......)adds humidity& scent.

Like your angelwing begonia....what color?I have Lucernia with coral blooms lighter pink in winter.

* * * *


I will age ungracefully until I become an old woman in a small garden..doing whatever the Hell I want!

http://community.webshots.com/user/njoynit03
http://community.webshots.com/user/njoynit
http://photos.yahoo.com/njoynit03

quote:

---

I need that for hubby but have it say "Don't think of harming a hair on these plants!"

---

You have one of "those" hubby's too, huh? Mine doesn't purposely hurt the things I put in the garden, but the first year I tried growing Nigella (my favorite) it had finally come up nicely but wasn't close to flowering yet (when they first come up they looked like the beginnings of carrot plants). I was sick in bed & my sweetie thought he would surprise me ...he pulled up every darned one of those plants & came in beaming with pride, "I weeded the whole bed all along the front of the house for you!" (Yup, I was surprised alright!)

I didn't say anything to him about it at the time (had to REALLY bite my tongue), but it takes Nigella 3 months to sprout! I was kicking myself for having told him once, "Whatever there's more of in a garden, you can bet that 90% of the time those are the weeds"!

I can't believe that you spotted that Angelwing!

I have no idea what color the blossoms are going to be... (right now it's just green & freckled!) Sarah (Barleychown) gave me that as a rooted cutting just a year ago, & it hasn't flowered yet. It was about the size of the smaller one next to it in the pic, that a friend gave me recently... that one just started rooting in water. I've sure enjoyed watching that thing grow, & I must be doing something right, cuz it seems pretty happy! (Is there something I need to do to make it bloom?)

Good suggestion about the pot on the woodstove! I hadn't thought of that, but the stove isn't on 24/7 like when the only source of heat we had was wood. (I kept a pot of soup going all the time back then.)

About the bunny... I just like Lynne so much that I wanted to have a garden toy just like hers!
Good memory for trivia, Lynne! I did win that rabbit on a monthly drawing last Feb from a MSN seed swapper group! I stumbled across it 1 day when I was browsing around, then I did the daily sign-up for the drawing before coming here every day... & won it the very first month I'd joined! (I went back & posted a thank-you, but haven't been back since!)

* * * *

Manihot is supposed to be an annual and I have never been successful in keeping it going even bringing it inside over winter. There are a couple Hibiscus like that unfortunately but the ones that survive the winter make it all ok!! hehehe

* * * *


My Site
http://www.freewebs.com/froglver/