Everyday gardeners here often wistfully wish for a greenhouse so that they might grow many of the lovely blooming tropical plants that are used so lavishly in places like Florida and southern California. Hibiscus seems to be the most sought after plant for patio decoration in the Twin City area. We joke at work about having the phone message say "If you are calling with a Hibiscus question, press 1. If you need anything else, press 2." These plants do well here for the summer, most of the problems come with trying to winter them. If they could be loved as an annual, then discarded with the appearance of cold weather, everyone would be happier. The problem seems to be economic. Most people believe a woody plant is too large an investment to be treated as an annual. Unless they buy one the size of a tree, most cost in the same range as dinner at a good restaurant.
So, if a woody Hibiscus is too much to treat as an annual, let's look at some tropical perennials that will serve us well as container or bedding annuals and cost the same as a cutting grown geranium. Geraniums have been used just about as long as they have been known in cultivation. They are perennial in warm climates. Until rather recent developments in seed varieties, they were always produced from cuttings. Now a group of commercial growers have banded together to research and produce other tender perennial plants that can serve an annual role for gardeners everywhere. Most of the popular gardening and home magazines have done lavish spreads showing the likes of Bacopa, Tapien and Temari verbenas, Scaevola, Bidens, and various Helichrysums that add wondrous possibilities for those of us who garden in the North. These are marketed to local growers in the same way that geranium cuttings are under the trademark "Proven Winners" .
Another wonderful development is the work of university extension services' testing programs. Last summer I had the great experience of touring some test plot/display gardens maintained by the University of North Carolina. They were testing the great new "sun coleus" that have been developed. They also had all three flavors of sweet potato vine - 'Blackie', 'Marguerite', and 'Tricolor' that can so admirably supplement a steady diet of variegated vinca vine. A very attractive ornamental hot pepper with variegated foliage and purple fruit was being used too.
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