The Hibiscus Virgin

Pink Swirl Hibiscus from Burpee Seeds website.

I was frightened by a hibiscus today.

Really.

Opened the blinds and WHAMMO! A honking huge Pink Swirl Hibiscus bloom was staring me right in the face.

I did not yelp, scream or mentally fracture (which has been known to happen when I found a lizard in my kitchen... well, that’s another story for another day). Anyhow I take pride in my stoicism in the face of horticultural aggressiveness.

You might remember back in February I planted 15 Pink Swirl Hibiscus seeds. I nursed them, rather obsessively, to wee-little sproutlings until they were finally able to greet the big, bad outside world. Eight have made it to adulthood but none of them had bloomed.

This is where my Hibiscus virginity becomes painfully apparent.

Having never owned a Hibiscus, having never touched one of the large, bright, tropical plants before, I had no idea what a Hibiscus bud looked like.

Well, it looks like a reject space pod from “Invasion of the Bodysnatchers” (1970’s version with Donald Sutherland and Jeff Goldblum, to be exact).

I, of course, had noticed all these weird pods on my 8 plants and hoped that one day they might gestate into something identifiable as a flower bud.

I had not expected a WHAMMO! event however.

So, opening the blinds this morning and coming face to face with a flower the size of a bread plate was understandably a bit unnerving for someone who hadn’t popped their Prozac yet.

Yes, I was frightened by a hibiscus today.

And you know what? I kind of liked it.

Until tomorrow…

Chloe, the Hibiscus Virgin no more