Feed Our Hibiscus Bee!

Crimson-eyed Rose Mallow, Hibiscus moscheutos, is a perennial that loves full sun and can tolerate a little shade. It prefers consistently damp soil and can be

found along water. It grows to around 3’ to 5‘ and produces large blooms from June to September that are loved by pollinators. Deadheading will give you a neater plant, but it is not required. The plant will die back to the ground in the winter. It is recommended that the stems are left in the winter and can be cut back in the spring. Spring growth is sometimes slow to emerge. You can pinch back the growing tips to encourage a bushier plant. They occur naturally in white, magenta and pink varieties.

Crimson-eyed Rose Mallow can be propagated by seed and stem cuttings.

Seed capsules should be collected once dry and stored in a cool dry place.

Most seeds are fertile but you can get even more to germinate if you pour hot water over the seeds and let them soak. When the water is room temperature, the seeds are ready to plant. The best time for stem cutting is in the spring and early summer. Cut softwood sections with at least 2 leaf nodes. Roots will form at the nodes. Dipping the cutting in rooting powder will increase your chances of success. Keep damp and cover with a bag to increase humidity. Low light is best. In about a month, you should have roots.

The Hibiscus or Rose-mallow Bee, Ptilothrix bombiformis, is a solitary ground nesting bee that specializes in eating the pollen of this beautiful plant. This is a larger bee and is sometimes confused with bumble bees. The females collect pollen on hairs on their hind legs. Check out this video to learn how a graduate student studies this bee. This bee can land on water to collect it for dampening areas for nest making. The nest has a turret similar to a tiny crawfish hole. The female builds a nest with 1 or 2 cells that contain pollen and an egg. She will build several nests during the season. This is an awesome video of a hibiscus bee building its nest. UL graduate student Kimberly Hamm has seen their nesting aggregations twice before in nature! The hibiscus bee needs you to put this plant on your land! -Submitted by Louise Prejean