{"product_id":"psyche-hibiscus-hibiscus-rosa-sinensis-psyche","title":"Psyche Hibiscus - Hibiscus rosa sinensis Psyche","description":"\u003cp\u003ePsyche is an older style hibiscus, grown for different reasons from the large flowered show varieties. Its flowers are bright red singles, smaller than those of the modern hybrids, and they come in quantity rather than one or two at a time. Behind them sits a strong, upright, well branched bush with glossy green leaves, vigorous enough to clip into a hedge and tough enough to keep flowering where fussier hybrids sulk.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat toughness is the reason to choose it. Older hibiscus of this kind generally cope with dry spells, poorer soil and coastal exposure better than the exhibition types, and they recover quickly after a hard prune or a rough winter. If the goal is a run of colour along a boundary in a warm garden, rather than one showpiece beside the patio, this is the hibiscus to start with.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eA flowering hedge, with one trade off\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlant a hedge in full sun, setting plants about a metre apart in a well prepared strip of soil, and they will knit into a continuous screen within a few warm seasons. Our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/how-many-plants-for-a-hedge\"\u003ehow many plants you need for a hedge\u003c\/a\u003e sets out the arithmetic for a given run. The trade off is between a tight shape and flowers. Hibiscus flower on new growth at the tips of the stems, so a hedge sheared flat every few weeks spends the summer cutting off its own buds. Treat Psyche as an informal hedge instead: one firm prune in late winter or early spring, once frost risk has passed, then a light trim straight after a flush of flowers in summer, and leave it alone from autumn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is frost tender, like every rosa sinensis hibiscus, so a hedge of it is a coastal and subtropical proposition rather than an inland one. A cold snap burns the foliage, and after a cool winter it can shed a good share of its leaves before regrowing in spring, which leaves a hedge looking thin for a few weeks. Keep it out of the full force of salt spray on the front line of the coast, though gardens a street or two back suit it well.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePsyche beside the other hibiscus\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eChoose Psyche when flower numbers and toughness matter more than the size of each bloom. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/pink-chiffon-hibiscus-hibiscus-rosa-sinensis-pink-chiffon\"\u003ePink Chiffon Hibiscus\u003c\/a\u003e brings a softer colour for a border or a pot. For a much bigger screen on a coastal block, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/hibiscus-tiliaceus\"\u003eCottonwood Hibiscus\u003c\/a\u003e is a spreading tree rather than a shrub, with yellow flowers, brittle wood and surface roots that lift paving, so it needs far more room. Other shrubs for summer colour are in the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/flowering\"\u003eFlowering Plants\u003c\/a\u003e collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eKeeping a long row fed and in flower\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA hedge of hibiscus is a long row of hungry plants competing with each other. Scatter a fertiliser for flowering shrubs along both sides of the row in early spring and again in midsummer, water it in well, and keep a thick layer of mulch over the root zone. Water deeply once a week through dry spells in the first two summers; established plants handle short dry periods, but a hedge that goes thirsty in summer drops buds and thins at the base. In a row, aphids and mealybug spread from bush to bush where the foliage touches, so when one plant shows them, check and treat its neighbours the same day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 300mm, at $109.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/when-to-plant-trees-and-shrubs-australia\"\u003ewhen to plant in Australia\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"300mm","offer_id":64308984775025,"sku":null,"price":109.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/psyche-hibiscus-hibiscus-rosa-sinensis-psyche.jpg?v=1791521225","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/psyche-hibiscus-hibiscus-rosa-sinensis-psyche","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}