The past few seasons, the Lot’s resident hibiscus has not done well. It gets out of bed late each Spring, and then doesn’t get too big before the neighboring Nicotiana, winter savory, and salvia rocket past it.  It grows fairly close to fence, not really receiving any sun until afternoon. But at that point the neighboring plants throw it into shade. Just this season I thought, “Hey, I wonder if the hibiscus needs more sun.” This is the point where all other experienced gardeners will face palm. Yeah, I know. “Duh.”

Here is the hibiscus when I dug it up in June.

And here is the hibiscus today, living in the newly created bed on the South side of the house.

It is so much happier now because it receives full sun all day except for a brief spell of dappled shade in late morning. When reading up on hardy hibiscus, there was a note mentioning the plant’s preference for damp soil around it’s roots. To achieve this in a sunny bed, it’s recommended to put a 3″ layer of mulch around the plant.