Having visited an uncle in South Florida as a child, I was aware of Hibiscus flowers and their beauty. I had never tried to
grow any since I was from Indiana. Now is my chance to try them.
Gumamela (Hibiscus)
When I visited Uncle Ivan in Hollywood, Florida, as a child, I noticed that he would go into his yard each morning and pick
a few large flowers with five petals each. He put them into a long dish designed to hold those beauties. They remained fresh-looking
all day long. He called them Hibiscus.
Now that I am in the Philippines, I see those flowers in many lawns and asked what they are called. Someone said something
that I was not sure I understood. I said, "They are Hibiscus." The person looked puzzled at that name. "They
are gumamela," she told me. I asked her to write the name on paper so I could show it when I went to the nursery.
I showed the paper at a local nursery. They had a few "gumamelas" but all the same color. None were blooming.
I asked about the color. The said, "They are orange." Not sure if I would like it, I went ahead and bought one.
Plant recovered
There were lots of challenges for me, getting it home (about one hour north of where I bought it) and keeping it safe from
animals which seem to have a taste for the leaves of Hibiscus.
Not having a car here, I took a jeepney to get this fairly large plant to the little town where I live. The only bud on
the plant got broken off in the process of boarding the jeepney. I planted it the usual way, boughten top soil mixed with
cow manure and my fertilizer bought from Ace Hardware.
Lo and behold, it took off, growing like crazy. However, I did not yet have a fence along the front side of my property.
Local mountain people bring their goats into the unfinished subdivision to eat weeds. As you might expect, the goats really
like gumamela leaves. I had serious doubt as to whether my hibiscus would live long enough to bloom for the first time.
A delightful surprise for me.
I put up a fence to keep the goats out. In a short time, the plant took on a great shape and soon blooms appeared, so many
that it surprised me quite a lot. I have done some research and learned that I must keep it trimmed back in order to have
larger blooms. I also learned that it needs watering but not too much. GREAT GUMAMELA!!!
