Red Beauty

Hibiscus glowing in the late afternoon sunlight. A bit side-lit, looking through the back of the blossom.

Compared to roses, hibiscus seem a humble flower, but there are many varieties, many colors on the warm side of the color wheel, as well as whites, pinks and creams. They open for a day as single blooms as well as doubles and triples - some ruffled, and all with lovely golden stamens and a velvety pistil. Some varieties have a deeply colored throat, often wine or magenta. The woody shrubs are hardy against the cold in south Florida, but freeze farther north. They look as if they should smell delicious (they don't!) and the uninitiated put their noses up for a sniff and invariably come away with a fine yellow pollen dust covering the tip of that nosy part!