Previously, I did a post on this flower/plant and at that time, I didn't know its name. The friend who gave me the baby plant called it Rose of Sharon and I named it Rose of Sharon in that post. If you are interested, you can click here to read about it. The plant was removed from my garden when it was badly infested with mealy bugs.
In December 2016, we visited our friends again and we came home with 2 stem cuttings from their garden.
Brought the cuttings back and planted them in a small plastic pot.
I found out later that this is actually Hibiscus Mutabilis and some of the common names are the Confederate Rose, Dixie Rosemallow and Cotton Rosemallow. I like the name Cotton Rosemallow, so I will refer to it as Cotton Rosemallow in this post.
The leaves and flowers are claimed to have medicinal benefits and are used for the treating of swellings and skin infections. Some even used it to facilitate delivery during labour.
Cotton Rosemallow plant is very easy to propagate from stem cuttings and is a fast growing plant. It can grow quite tall and needs constant trimming to keep within the desired height.
My pot of Cotton Rosemallow gets a few hours of sun daily. It is grown in a pot with normal garden soil with good drainage.
Flower buds started to appear after 3 - 4 months.
The stalks of the flower buds increased in length to raise the flowers above the leaves.
Opening of the flower bud. Taken on a sunny morning.
A blooming flower bud taken after a heavy downpour. You can see the wet leaves.
A fully opened flower. It first appeared white in the morning.
The whole flower is white with yellow centre.
A full bloomed flower measures about 5 to 6 inches in diameter.
A close up view of the yellow stigma and yellow stamens.
My Cotton Rosemallow plant is now about 5 feet tall. The above photo was taken in the afternoon after the rain stopped.
When the flower opens in the morning, it is white.
By midday, it slowly changes from white to light pink.
The light pink then turns to deep pink. This photo was taken at about 2.30 pm. By late evening, it will turned to dark pink.
This plant is easily prone to mealy bugs infection. Can you see the white powdery bugs on my plant? I quickly mixed the fermented enzyme liquid with a generous amount of curry powder. I then sprayed the mixture on the bugs and infected parts. After that most of the white powdery bugs were gone. I sprayed again and hopefully the bugs will stay away from my plants.
One morning, I was blessed with 2 flowers blooming at the same time.
Top left photo - 2 white flowers in the early morning at 7.45 am.
Top right photo - by 11.45 am, there were traces of light pink.
Bottom left photo - by 1.35 pm, the flowers have turned to a lovely pink.
Bottom right photo - by 2.30 pm, the flowers in deeper pink.
Linking to Floral Bliss.
Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!
Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose -
don't ever quit taking delight in her body.
Never take her love for granted!
(Proverbs 5:18-19, The Message-MSG)
