Hibiscus

Wow. Lovely colour. I find these too tender for my garden and yet one I planted in the shrubbery beside my Bay tree has survived the winter. No sign of flowers though.

I cannot grow these outdoors in Wales!! I took this picture in Mauritius where they grow everywhere.

I should have guessed it was somewhere warmer.

I'm currently growing two bird of paradise plants in the conservatory. I started one of the from a seed that I bought for a pound in a cheap shop. I sowed the seed thinking it would not germinate. But one day I found that it was germinating. It is about a foot tall now.

The other one I bought as a small plant from a nursery. It is doing well. I hope one day they will both bear the beautify bird of paradise flowers.

Well done. I often think the cheap bulbs and seeds offered in the pound shops are excellent value for money. I like nurseries as opposed to garden centres if I want something special because the people growing the plants have chosen and cared for them. In garden centres the turnover can be so huge that staff working shifts do not have the same empathy with the plants. I do have a lot of good plants bought from garden centres but generally speaking I do not find them my first choice of places to buy.