Hibiscus Moya Grande Hot Pink

One of my favorite plants is the hibiscus. They're showy, regal and tall. You've got to admire a flowering plant that grows as tall as I am (6'6"). This means gardening  without bending for me.

The San Antonio Botanical Gardens has some gorgeous hibiscus. Some of the master gardeners onstaff had developed some particularly Texas hardy hibiscus. In fact, San Antonio Botanical Gardens includes a hibiscus on its blog header.

So last fall when the Botanical Gardens had their semi-annual fundraising plant sale, I was there when the gates opened. I wanted to make sure I got one of the hibiscus plants. I was lucky enough to get one of the locally developed  Moya Grande Hot Pink.  The first year we had the plant it had one blossom.

Then the Moya Grande  overwintered in a sheltered area on the patio. During the winter it died back down as they are prone to do here in Texas.   It looked and was totally dried out and dead. Or so I thought. 

After speaking with Phil (Phil The Gardener) I pruned (some will call it chopped) the plant back. Phil said to go down to live wood. (He kept telling me to look for green in the outer layer of the branch).

Well other than the one spot on the base of the plant, there was no green. I was ready to dump the plant, but my wife persuaded me to let it be.  Three weeks later there were some small sprouts at the base.

Now several months later, here's the plant again. The plant is about 4' tall and has three main branches and 12 buds. I'm looking forward to many blossoms this year.

Just shows the resilience of mother nature. Will share photos of the flowers when they bloom.

All in a gardener's day,