We’ve started a Photo Gallery of many of our favorite Hibiscus blooms, especially varieties that are readily available to the general public. The Tropical Hibiscus Gallery now has over 1,000 images and is still growing!
There are about 10,000 registered varieties of Hibiscus rosa sinensis, although most of those cultivars are either extinct, or only grown by a few private collectors. As horticultural hybridizing is both a commercial endeavor and a hobby for hibiscus enthusiasts, there are a few thousand hibiscus varieties in existence at any one time.
Various databases listing tropical hibiscus cultivars still contain the hybridizing and nomenclature records of all extinct varieties for two reasons: First of all, those plants might still be in existence somewhere, perhaps in someone’s garden, or in the back-lot inventory of a commercial grower. So, the variety might someday make a comeback and be reintroduced as a publicly available hibiscus cultivar. Secondly, old varieties might have been used in hybridizing, and so their characteristics and ancestry are of interest to current growers and gardeners with an interest in producing new hybrid hibiscus.
The vast majority of new hybrids are similar to existing cultivars, and are discarded or have very limited distribution. Most are never officially registered in any nomenclature database. Of the varieties (cultivars) that are still being grown, very few have wide distribution. A few dozen members of the American Hibiscus Society, plus a few commercial growers, own and grow the vast majority of the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis varieties.
When a new seedling shows promise, it takes several years and a lot of work to produce enough plants to sell commercially. Also, it is not uncommon for a new hybrid to produce outstanding blooms, but have very poor plant growth characteristics. These are a just a couple of reasons why many of the newest show winning blooms are often not available to the general public. Some exotic varieties that display good growth patterns as well as “pretty flowers” will eventually make it into commercial production.
When searching for a particular hibiscus variety, one should keep in mind that commercial growers often change the names of plants for marketing and copyright purposes. For instance, a hybridizer might create a pretty blooming hibiscus cultivar and name it after his “Aunt Jane”. Later, a commercial greenhouse operator might decide to grow large quantities of that variety for sale to the public. That company’s marketing department might choose a completely different name for packaging and advertising purposes. Quite a few commercially available hibiscus varieties that have acquired multiple names in this manner. Having the same flowers entered under different names does cause a certain amount of confusion at hibiscus shows!
In this Image Gallery, you will find a great selection of hibiscus plants available for sale to the general public, from commercial vendors.
Thanks to the following Hibiscus Growers & Vendors for allowing the use of their Hibiscus images on this site:
- Exotic Hibiscus, Curt Sinclair
- Fancy Hibiscus, Winn Soldani
- Hidden Valley Hibiscus, Charles & Cindy Black
The Hibiscus Photo Gallery can be found in the Menu Bar at the top of the page, or just click here.
If you are a grower or commercial vendors who would like to add your blooms to this collection, please contact the editor.
