hibiscus flowers
all the colors you won't find
in a crayon box
While there have been over 400 colors with the Crayola label since 1903, currently in the crayon box there are 120 crayon colors, yet there are hundreds of different species of hibiscus and incredibly diverse color variations in their flowers.
Hibiscus plants are easy to cross-pollinate, this is one of the reasons behind the vast array of colors. Cross-pollinating results in seeds producing a new hibiscus variety with its own color. Additionally, hibiscus change their colors with changes in temperature, hours of daylight, soil pH or nutrient intake.
I was not expecting to find a crayon box in a hibiscus haiku, that's how a good turn of thought works. And what a wonderful way to highlight all their colors!
—Dana Clark-Millar