Renaissance Blue

[Nievesgirl]

Yeah I'm getting to the point of thinking I need to build a shelf on my balcony.  Kerry, Delta Dawn was the hardest for me to find.  I found it on Ebay actually. 

I found someone selling most of dupont culitvars but these are small plants not in bloom yet.

I need one also look what I am using 


This the only plant stand I have

[Charlie]

How pretty the balcony looks! Nothing like blooming plants to add the finishing touch.

The parents of Renaissance Blue are Elderberry x Lora. This was one of my earlier seedlings, dating back to 1999 or thereabouts. Elderberry is a fairly large lavender/pink flower that sets seeds and was used a lot at one time. Lora is a little smaller but quite pretty. Both have good stout bushes that have to be grafted. Photos of them are below.

Charlie

[roadrunner]

I see that I'm not alone in being hooked on these incredible hibiscus. I also went totally crazy last year and I've already got more than I have space for with still several on my wish list. I have no idea how I'm going to overwinter them all as they get larger which is basically now.  Good grief!

Here's what I have at the moment (all in containers):

Acapulco Gold
Aztec Sun
Belle du Jour
Bluebird
Blonde Ambition
Bon Temps (new)
Bridal Path
Bubble Gum Fun
Cherry Appaloosa
Erin Rachel
Fantasy Charm
First Lady
Fragile Moment
Gold Mine
Gwen Mary
Heaven Scent
Heavy Metal
High Voltage
Lady Cilento
Lady in Waiting
Living Legend
Love Story
Magnifique
Over the Rainbow
Palm Springs
Passion Play (new)
Pina Colada
Rainbow Sherbet
Rosalind (new)
Saffron
Simple Pleasures
Sleeping Beauty (new)
Tamibon
Tangerine Dream

Dave

[Darkhorse]

Can Ren. Blue root on its own, or did it inherit the must-be-grafted quality from both parents?  To me, the Eldeberry bloom looks a lot like Blueberry Smoothie (another that I think is really pretty).  Amazing how RB resembles both of its parents in color, yet it has the ability to produce offspring so dramatically different from itself colorwise (i.e. Voodoo Magic).

Dave, wow, you've got a ton of hibs!  Right now I'm also having a space issue.  Most of my plants are still little, as I purchased them in 4" pots, but as they are gradually potted up I'm finding that my balcony is getting smaller and smaller...  I'm house hunting right now so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll find something before winter, as I need to put all these guys in a GH.  Otherwise they'll have to come live inside with me (20 hibs in a 700 sq ft. apt) lol!  Kerry the balcony looks nice.  Live plants definately brighten anything up.

[helixturnhelix]

Wow 20 hibs and 700 sq ft.  Maybe you should be looking at green houses  

[roadrunner]

Darkhorse, I also buy primarily in the 4" pot size. Only 3 were purchased in the 6" size, the latest being Rosalind. I'm really having space issues now as they have started getting much larger. I keep mine in a sort of greenhouse during the warmer time of the year, but they have to be overwintered inside the house which is small under 1200 sq ft.  My sort of greenhouse is on the northeast side of the house and is far too leaky to try heating in the winter. Here's an inside view of the greenhouse which is approx 7' by 11'.

That balcony does look great and check out some of the plant stands I'm using in the greenhouse.

I'd add Ren. Blue to my wish list as well as a few others mentioned here in the forum if I had any room left. I may anyway,   

Dave

[Darkhorse]

Wow Dave, your GH is pretty full.  Did you build it yourself?  When I actually have a backyard (hopefully within the next few months) I'm going to look into building one. 

I need to post some photos of my crazy hibiscus porch now... will try to take some tomorrow although it's also got a lot of junk on it due to limited space. 

[nina]

Hi, Charles,

Interesting what you say about RB and WM. I have both, both grafted last year in early spring. They behave very differently in my conditions. WM grows and blooms like crazy, I have made many small plants from my original two big ones, and those small ones bloom already,  while the original RB is still a small plant, with no buds.

But I do agree that no conclusions can be made on the basis of only one plant. When I manage to propagate it, I will know better.
My experience is also that tropical hibiscus is very sensitive to nuances of conditions. For instance, me and another person from my climate very often have very different results with the same cultivars, although our climate is the same. But, we use different fertilizers, different soil, we both have greenhouses but mine is more sunny, etc. So, the trick is to find the best conditions for a cultivar.  Very often, what is ideal for the majority of cultivars, is not good for the particular one.

[roadrunner]

Yes the greenhouse is unfortunately getting very full and several plants are still quite small so it is really going to get crowded as the summer progresses. It isn't a stand alone greenhouse, it is part of the laundry room. It was an addition to the laundry room by the previous owner. A friend helped me convert it to the sort of greenhouse as I call it since it isn't climate controled. For now it works out ok. If I had more room and money I'd consider doing it right.
I'd love to see some photos of your hibiscus porch as well as how other members of the forum display their collections. That might be a good topic to start.

Dave