Fijian White Hibiscus

Fijian White Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Fijian White') gives you big, clean white flowers instead of the usual reds and pinks. It grows fast to about 2.5m tall and 2m wide, and every bloom opens wide with a deeper throat at the centre. Flowering runs right through the warm months.

Why you'll love it

• Large white blooms with a deeper centre. Palm sized flowers, and the darker eye stops them reading as flat white.
• Fast to fill a space. It reaches useful height in a season or two, so a bare fence line softens quickly.
• Built for humidity and heat. Humidity, heat and salt tolerant, so coastal and northern gardens suit it.
• Birds and pollinators work it. Honeyeaters go for the open flowers, and bees and butterflies follow.
• Low maintenance once away. One prune in early spring and a feed or two covers the year.

Where it works best

Flowering hedge and screening. Plant 1m apart in a single row. The canopies meet within two seasons, and you can still reach in to prune.

Poolside. Broad leaves are easy to sweep up, and it takes reflected heat and the odd splash of pool water without sulking.

Pots and feature planting. One plant in a pot 400mm or wider works on a warm patio, holding nearer 1.5m than 2.5m.

Growing Fijian White Hibiscus in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering; part shade gives leaves at the expense of blooms. This is a plant for tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens only. It is frost tender, so cold inland districts, the tablelands and frosty southern gardens need a pot that can be moved under cover.

Soil. Any reasonable soil that drains. Dig compost through the backfill, raise the bed on heavy clay, and keep 75mm of mulch over the roots but clear of the stem.

Water and feed. Deep water twice a week through the first summer, then a weekly soak in hot weather. Hibiscus flower on new growth and are hungry plants: a controlled release fertiliser in early spring and mid summer, plus a potassium rich feed if buds start dropping.

Pruning. Cut back by about a third in early spring, before the new flush. That keeps it bushy instead of leggy, since bare lower stems are the main complaint with older hibiscus.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in two sizes: tube stock, and established plants in 200mm pots sold in packs of six. Tubes are young and single stemmed, the sensible choice for a long hedge, since hibiscus grow fast enough to repay the head start of a bigger pot within a season. The 200mm plants arrive branched and often carrying buds.

Soft growth means a few dropped leaves or an unopened bud after transit is normal rather than a fault. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost. Give it a fortnight to settle, then expect new shoots within four to six weeks in warm weather, all covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Read our hibiscus care guide for Australian gardens.
• Compare colours across the flowering plants range.
• See what else suits a poolside garden bed.
• For a smaller plant to about 1m, look at Lollipops Hibiscus.

Common questions

How far apart do I plant it for a hedge?

One metre apart in a single row. Closer planting crowds the bases and cuts airflow, which is how you end up with sooty growth on a humid coast.

Will it survive frost?

No. It is frost tender, and a hard frost burns the growth back or kills a young plant. In cold districts grow it in a pot and move it under eaves for winter.

Why do the buds drop before opening?

Usually dryness at the roots, a sudden temperature swing, or hunger. Keep the water steady in hot weather and feed with a potassium rich fertiliser through the flowering season.