| The plant commonly recognized as the Hibiscus (rosa-sinensis), a native of warm southern China, made its way through the islands of the South Pacific to Hawaii. The original wild flower was a small single pink one that possibly no longer exists. The Chinese royal court’s search for new and different blooms began the development of what became thousands of varieties. By the time they were introduced into Europe in the 1700’s, they were in various colors and had changed character greatly from being just single blooms. Hibiscus plants were introduced to the United States via Philadelphia, about 1842.
The first catalog in Florida to list Hibiscus was that of the Reasoner Brothers of Oneco, Florida, in 1887. The 25 varieties listed came from a gentleman in Philadelphia and from those collected during a trip to Havana, by Pliny W. Reasoner in 1885. After Pliny Reasoner’s early death, his brother Egbert continued the nursery. At Egbert’s death in 1926, the nursery passed to his son Norman Reasoner.
Norman Reasoner began cataloging Hibiscus plants by their correct names and in 1948 began mimeographing a descriptive bulletin with the help of ten collaborators in Florida, Texas and California. These people, and a group of Hibiscus enthusiasts in the Palm Beach area, were the catalyst for forming the American Hibiscus Society, which was chartered in 1950. The first president was Norman A. Reasoner. So indeed, the American Hibiscus Society and Hibiscus have very deep roots in Manatee and Sarasota Counties.
Four years before the formation of the American Hibiscus Society, Eric Golby arrived in Florida via Boston from his birthplace on the English Channel Isle of Guernsey, where generations of his family were professional horticulturists. In Florida, Eric Golby was hired by Norman Reasoner to work in the nursery. There he met his wife-to-be, Sally. In 1956 they spent their honeymoon touring all the major nurseries and botanical gardens in Cuba and returned with many seeds and cuttings of rare and unusual Hibiscus plants. They became the resident Hibiscus experts and grew thousands of hybrids at the Eric and Sally Golby Garden Center of the Reasoner Nursery.
In 1962, the Golbys, with other interested people, organized the Bradenton-Sarasota chapter of the American Hibiscus Society. The chapter was named after Eric’s mentor and was known for 33 years as the Norman Reasoner Chapter. Jim Wallace was the first Chapter President. In 1995, in recognition of the monumental contributions by Eric and Sally Golby to the world of Hibiscus, the local chapter was renamed the Golby-Reasoner Chapter. It is only proper that two of the names inexorably linked to Hibiscus in our area, now form the name of our American Hibiscus Society Chapter.
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