Reincarnation of two Hibiscus Standards

I lost two of my four hibiscus standards this spring. "Standard" means they have been trained into a tree form. I have had them for about five years.

I noticed last year that the tree was very loose in the soil. I added rocks in the pot to keep it upright. It survived the winter and started to leaf out this spring. Then the leaf buds dried up. The tree was almost falling over in the container.

As it turned out, the plant had some sort of root rot fungus and all of it's roots had dissolved so there was nothing left to hold it upright. I just grabbed the tree with my bare hands and pulled it right out.

I wasn't all that upset. I've been getting tired of hauling these giants in every winter and caring for them. They are the ones that live in the basement and get the aphid infestation. I've had 5 good years with them on the deck and now I shall enjoy them in a different way.

Any ideas what I will do with them?

Well, I sawed about a foot off the bottom of each.

Then I mixed up some Plaster of Paris in 2 plastic coffee cans.

You just add water to the Plaster of Paris powder. I made it very thick. I am using the bottom I cut off one of the trees as a stirrer.

I then stuck one tree in each pot and let them set up for about an hour.

Voila!

I have interesting Easter Egg trees for next year. Of course when I put them out the red plastic will be put inside some other more interesting container. If you continue to read my blog, I am sure you will see these in all sorts of tablescapes. . . they could be painted white with icicles hanging down for a wonderful winter tablescape...someone slap me! I shouldn't even be thinking about winter while we are eagerly awaiting summer's arrival.

It's a beautiful day to work outside today. I have put all my plants back out and made those trees. Now I have to haul deck furniture up from the basement. There is a ton of work to do, so I'd better quit blogging and get to working!