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!

Not a Pretty Sight

I store my 4 hibiscus trees in the basement during the winter. As you can see, they are in front of a large window to maximize the light. They lose all of their leaves and get these bugs (I presume aphids?). Even without leaves, they flower all winter.


Be sure to click on the last photo to see the critters in their full glory.
Disgusting, isn't it?

Every year (including this one) I take a bucket of very soapy water and wash every leaf, but it does not do much good. I've tried to sprinkle some bug-killing dust, but that didn't help either. I don't think it's healty to breathe that stuff in so I quit trying any chemicals.

I am now pretty nonchalant about it all. I just let them do their thing, because if it's the same as past years, I will take them outside in late May and all of the bugs will disappear within a few days. They will get nice and healthy looking by the end of June and bloom like crazy all summer long. So, why worry about it?

I've spent most of the day cleaning. It's becoming quite the chore to keep things orderly and work full time. I've let the house go for the past few weeks and today I paid the price. I am pretty beat.

I moved a couple of china cabinets (with DH's help) and added a bit of green with the silver just for a different look.



Right how I have a corned beef dinner boiling on the stove. We like to have an early dinner on Sunday, so we will probably eat before 5:00 p.m.


DH just came up from the basement with a load of laundry (it was nice of him to bring it up). Now I must go and hang up my clothes.

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday.

Morning Glories

growing up the hibiscus tree.
I planted morning glories in this tree about three years ago. They have reseeded themselves ever since.

They looked pretty with the morning light shining through.

I spent a couple of hours early this morning moving hostas to one of the beds near the road. I haven't been able to get much to grow there. It's not very sunny and
I have to hook two hoses together to get water to the bed. So I never water it unless I am transplanting. The lack of water is one reason not much grows. Of course, hostas like a lot of water. I will just have to pray for rain next year. :)

Artistic Death

I thought this was a very artistic way to die. I went to pull it off early this morning and just had to run back in the house to get a picture.

It is a hibiscus and looks like this for just day, then it dies.

Are these aphids?

 
Every year I bring my hibiscus trees into the basement for the winter. Every year they get like this by January (this is a picture from last year). I am assuming these are aphids, but am not really sure. I have tried spraying them with soapy water, but it does not seem to help much. Even though it looks horrible, there really does not seem to be any damage to the plant. When I bring them outside in the spring, I soap them up and spray with a hose and the little nasties just seem to disappear. It has been happening for four years now, so I have just accepted that it will and I don't worry much about it. But if anyone has some idea what I can do to prevent them this year, I am open to all suggestions. 

Hibiscus with Morning Glories

Look at the morning glories that grew up into the hibiscus. (They reseeded themselves from last year). Just look at how much this barrel has grown from when I planted it in late May.

Since I had to move many containers to sweep the deck, I did a bit of rearranging. In the front of the picture around the hibiscus, I clustered some foliage plants.

Purple Fountain Grass Develops its Seed Heads

This is the first year I have tried purple fountain grass, ('Rubrum' Pennisetum setaceum). I bought two of them and after getting them home, I really did not know where to plant them. I first put them in with the hibiscus, then decided they would get too tall and moved them to the rockwall garden. After a week in the rockwall garden, I decided it was too far away to appreciate them, so I dug them up again and just put them in a pot, so I could move them around. Lord knows, I live to move things around! One of them currently resides in a purple grouping on the deck. I think I like this grass. I am glad I put it on the deck where I can walk by often and run my fingers over its "purple nodding seed plumes" which are very soft. It is a perennial in warmer climates, so I am going to try to overwinter it.

I don't think I have shown you my second barrel. This one has red geraniums, black & blue annual salvia, fanflower and a couple of yellow callas in the middle (not yet in bloom). The hibiscus tree in the back has just started blooming.

I think putting this hibiscus tree behind the barrel was a good idea. From the front, it appears as one planting and it provides the height I needed. When the large orange flowers begin to bloom, I think it will be quite wonderful. I did the same thing with another hibiscus behind the second barrel on the opposite side.