Rest in Peace Miss Liberty

One of my hobbies is growing Tropical Hibiscus. This is a 2002 picture of a two day old bloom of the cultivar "Miss Liberty", hybridized by Joe Ludick of Florida. We had bought the plant at the Dupont Nursery in Plaquemine, Louisiana. We entered this bloom in the 2002 New Orleans Hibiscus show and it won the Best Amateur Single ribbon. It has bloomed many times since this picture was taken, however, none have matched the full crimson color and the white spots of this bloom. The plant itself is a sprawler, preferring to grow in a horizontal rather than a vertical upright fashion. We had the plant through Hurricane Katrina, when it was submerged for a time under floodwater. Most of its branches died in September 2005, with the final branch giving up the ghost in the first weeks of October 2005.