Chinese Hibiscus
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Moonlight’
(hi-BIS-kus) (RO-suh se-NEN-sis)
Nikon D70s 60mm Micro-Nikkor
1/500 F/11

This is another plant from the container garden. I always have problems photographing Hibiscus because of the long tube with the stamens and pistils at the end. It requires a tricky depth of field. While photographing some other flowers I saw this backlit view of ‘Moonlight’. It has bloomed profusely on very short stems, which leads me to believe it was treated with some sort of growth regulator. It maybe dwarf, but there was not much reference to this particular cultivar. It’s flower, kind of a whitish yellow with a pink center is quite nice. I will probably try and take it into the greenhouse at the end of the season but I really haven’t had a lot of luck over wintering these plants. As most gardeners would do I‘ll keep trying.

Chinese or Tropical Hibiscus is native to tropical Asia and has a seemingly endless variety of cultivars. It can get up to 30 feet in frost-free locations. I once saw a plant in Florida that had several colors grafted on to one plant, and that was amazing. Hibiscus is a flower that just about everyone can enjoy.