Tropical Hybiscus

A couple of weeks ago, a friend put me in touch with someone who was moving and looking for a new home for her very large potted tropical hibiscus! Well, thank you so much! I have never owned a tropical before.

Hibiscus moscheutos

I do, however, have the hardy Hibiscus moscheutos here in my garden which I enjoy very much. The tropical will be a nice addition...even though I will need to over-winter it indoors. It is too large to bring into the house and also I am afraid the conditions will not be right for it...it was always over-wintered in a semi-heated garage in the past. I may be able to fit it into the foyer by the front door. It stays above freezing in there, but still very cool as there are no heat ducts. But...that's jumping ahead about five months! Right now I just need to repot it. The old pot is lightweight plastic and too narrow in diameter at the bottom to keep it from blowing over with a good gust of wind. What I would really like is a nice glazed ceramic pot---or faux ceramic with a with broad base. The ones that I have seen so far still have the narrower base and would not likely solve the problem. Gotta do something soon...

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I did my rounds of the bird boxes today. Box number one has brand new baby bluebirds! I caught them at just the right moment as all but one are hatched out. A single shiny blue egg remains. He has not even pipped yet. Maybe a bad egg. Will check on it again tomorrow.

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Bad news on the tree swallows in box number two. They hatched out a week or so ago--all six of them were fine. Growing and seemingly healthy. Well... checked on them today and they were all six DEAD in the nest! I have no idea what happened to them. They were not attacked, there is no evidence of insects, they all appear fat/well fed. They probably just died today or yesterday...don't know. I last saw them two or three days ago and they seemed just fine. I don't think they gaped at me when I opened the door, but I didn't think anything of it. They were all breathing then. I do know that there was at least one parent flying around as usual. We did have a torrential downpour yesterday afternoon. I was driving home and it was so bad that I could barely see the road. It seemed to come out of the Northwest. The opening in the box is facing Northeast, but maybe the rain came in and hammered the poor babes. The nest did seem a little damp. I guess I will never know what happened to them for sure.

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Box number three has had an English House Sparrow trying to nest in it. I have removed the nest at least three or four times now. I hope they give up and go away soon.