How to Care for My Rainbow Christie Hibiscus

Rainbow Christie is a cultivar of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, a tropical hibiscus. Unlike most other cultivars, Rainbow Christie has a rounded form with equal height and spread. The 10-inch flowers have a stunning red to deep-purple eye with a pink border and white or yellow edges. Growing to a height of 10 feet, Rainbow Christie is easy to care for within U.S. Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zones 9 to 11.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• Fertilizer
• Insecticidal soap spray

1. Give the Rainbow Christie hibiscus full sun. It can grow in dappled shade as well, but will not flower as well.

2. Avoid over-watering the Rainbow Christie hibiscus. Wait until the top inch of soil is dry before watering.

3. Pinch 1/2 inch off the tips of new branches in spring and mid-summer to encourage the hibiscus to produce more flowers.

4. Fertilize the Rainbow Christie hibiscus with a 7-2-7 formula, at half the rate suggested on the fertilizer’s label. Apply the fertilizer four times during the growing season: early spring, just after growth begins, in midsummer and again in early winter. Sprinkle the fertilizer on the soil around the plant and water it in.

5. Inspect the Rainbow Christie periodically for aphids. These are small, usually green insects that cluster together on the undersides of foliage or on buds. Small infestations can be washed off with a blast of water from the hose. Use insecticidal soap spray, at the rate noted on the label’s instructions, to control large infestations.