Q: I recently started collecting hibiscus plants for my backyard. I get many buds, but before they open, they fall off.

R.S., Kendall

A: Hibiscus don't like change and will drop their flowers for a number of reasons. The double flower varieties tend to drop flowers more readily.

A midge (a type of fly) that infests hibiscus flower buds may be the major reason for the bud drop. Collect recently fallen buds, open them and look for white maggots. This pest is hard to control and it may be easier just to plant varieties that seem to have fewer problems. Try the single reds like president red, or the pink-flowered weeping type, Anderson crepe.

Your extension office can also send you additional information.

INSECT SAMPLES

For identification, send undamaged (live or dead) insects in a crush-proof container such as a pill bottle or film canister with the top taped on. Mail them in a padded envelope or box with a brief note explaining where you found the insects.

Do not tape insects to paper or place them loose in envelopes. Insect fragments or crushed insect samples are almost impossible to identify.

Send them to the address of your county extension office, found in the blue pages in the phone book under county government.

Adrian Hunsberger is an entomologist/horticulturist with the UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension office. Write to Plant Clinic, 18710 SW 288th St., Homestead, FL 33030; e-mail aghu@ifas.ufl.edu.