Last time our seeds were from a plant from Africa, the natal plum. This week our mystery seeds are from an Australian native:  the blue hibiscus, Alyogyne huegelii.

blue-hibiscus-shrubBlue hibiscus is a large, perennial evergreen shrub that can definitely turn heads when it is flowering.

blue-hibicus-in-landscape

Here is Arizona it adds some bright contrast to the spring pageant of wildflowers.

blue-hibiscus-leaf

The leaves are delicate, deeply lobed and covered with fine hairs.

blue hibiscus flowersAlthough called blue hibiscus, the flowers actually range in color from pink to deep purple.

blue-hibiscus-close-up

nice-blue-hibiscus-side

What more can you say?

Blue hibiscus is easy to grow and drought tolerant. The only problem is that it can be very sensitive to some of the soil-borne fungal diseases (common in Arizona), such as Texas root rot.

Have you ever grown blue hibiscus?