Hibiscus Blossom Colors: 200 Unique Beauties

A newbie gardener usually feels a bit confused when it comes to all the types of hibiscus on the market. Those little shrug beauties can be classified into tropical, perennial, fancy, hardy, exotic, hybrid and garden variety. The two main kinds are tropical and hardy or perennial that can survive the winter unlike their tropical counterparts.

Of course now there are many new kinds of flowers that look tropical but can survive winters and others. Left alone all the existing blossom color variations that beat any other flowers with their amazing color palette.

Modern Hybrids or Traditional Species?

Majority of garden hibiscuses are modern variations that have been carefully selected and bred. The wild species growing in Asia and Africa have smaller flowers of traditional white and pink to scarlet shades. The flowers are smaller. The plants can self pollinate and reproduce from the seed.

When it comes to hybrids those cannot reproduce themselves as the new plants differ from their hybrid parent plants. Cross breeding different hibiscus types has allowed for more different varieties as a cultivar is simply a mix of two different natural sorts.

Exotic Hibiscuses

This term is used for all the new big hibiscuses that do not look like the traditional garden plants. The meaning comes from the staggering blossom colors as the new breeds produce huge flowers with multicolored petals, different flower shape etc.

If you look at the exotic hibiscus flowers you will see that they are generally bigger and brighter comparing to the natural ones. Also the shrug has way more blossom buds while the traditional kinds have more lush green leaves. The professional breeders have now come up with a classification for about 200 old and new types of hibiscuses so there is something for every gardener to make yours look like paradise.

How To Pick The Right One?

When picking the right type for yourself browse through all the hibiscus varieties and colors. Pay attention to the needs and the requirements of the plants. Some of the hybrids require grafting as they cannot produce strong roots themselves. They also have different sunlight needs, cold temperatures and drafts tolerance.

And remember not to get hypnotized browsing though all the hibiscus pictures as you can spend hours doing it. When first studying the variety you might have a feeling like you want them all. And you might even come up with an idea of creating a breed of your own.