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Showing posts from June, 2014

Swamp Hibiscus

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We first discovered swamp hibiscus in Dan Gill's Louisiana Gardeners Guide while looking for perinnial flowering plants for our house off East Broussard in 2003.   Hibiscus moscheutos  are prolific, low maintenance, moisture loving plants that regularly grow back more profusely each year. We planted a few at our Elmhurst Park home after we moved in a few years ago. The five, 1-gallon nursery plants have become a ten foot wall of blooms. Here is one of this morning's blooms: The blooms are one-dayers, so we always try to enjoy them before we leave for work, as they'll be droopy by late afternoon.  You may have to hunt for them, we found ours at a locally-owned nursery. When cold weather arrives just let them die off. Cut off the dead stalks before spring. Straight green shoots will start appearing in late march to late April. As they grow, you may decide a lattice would be helpful to keep the stems upright.  Give it a try! FWIW, we live in Lafayette, LA, USDA Hardines...