I am so pleased!

Just look:

And here:

What do you think they are? Yup, roots. And from what kind of plant?

You may remember the sad state of my hibiscus plant (<--click the link and scroll down a bit to see it) just over a year ago. I'd chopped it back pretty severely, and yet it came back and bloomed nicely again. However, it's gotten so old and woody, that I didn't even bother to do anything with it this past spring. I just set it outside, not even making any attempt to gradually get it used to being outdoors. I figured it could just take what it got. It's too big and heavy to move in and out.

It turned out to be pretty bad timing, as just a couple days after I put it out, the weather got very hot and windy, and that's not good for a plant that has just come out after several months indoors. It got pretty beat up... windwhipped and sunburned. Although it's still alive, it's not doing much.

I got to wondering how hibiscus plants are propagated. I thought it was probably from grafting, but I decided to do a little searching. Lo and behold, I found that some (the less exotic kinds that you usually find for sale in stores, like mine which I got at Target) actually can be started from cuttings. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I cut off a slip each from the green and the coral branches, stuck them in water, and in less than a week, I could see the beginnings of roots. Hurray! So if all goes well, I shall have new hibiscus plants! It may be a few years before they bloom, but we'll see what happens.