This plant surely causes some sort of sickness to develop within the mind of the person that puts it into the ground. I was lucky enough to inherit a very hardy species from my father after he passed away. This did not seem like a real big thing in my life. The drab, dry root looked like a dead old weed that maybe washed ashore along the lake where he lived.

I planted it anyway. My stepmother said it was my dad's favorite flower of the many he cultured.

Initially, it didn't look like much. And then suddenly the plant came looking for me. Two years in the ground with total lack of attention from me had not managed to deter it.

It began to grow tall and full. Flowers started to grace the large deep green leaves. And what flowers they were! They were enormous and pure dark crimson in color.

This thing was starting to get my attention!

I thought that maybe I should help this forgiving plant and put some supporting sticks in the ground to keep the large lush foliage from bringing it all to the ground. In return, it began to produce a steady stream of these big beautiful flowers.

Now it is really getting my attention. I thought maybe I will just gather up a few seeds and try to start some myself. Well just hold on a minute. As I find out subsequently, this plant is not quite so generous with its offspring. It demands a little more if you expect it to provide you with seed for the future. Of the generous number of flowers produced I found three fertile seed pods. On further reading I discover that maybe I was lucky at that. Apparently a bit more effort on my part will encourage the parents to provide me with these seeds of the future.

Well, I have planted my limited collection of last year's seeds and my hopes are high. And I hate to even say it but I am thinking about what to do this year. I may even intervene and delve into the field of artificial insemination of plants. Well the purists don't actually call it that. But at the bottom line that's what it is.

Oh my God, what has happened to me? What is going on? What has this plant created in me? I wasn't some green thumbs, doting plant admirer. A sickness is developing. I feel the symptoms. I am hooked! Is it some sort of old age syndrome or is there magic in the Hibiscus?