Where did it all start?

[Pachrian]

I know this is an old thread, but I loved reading everyone's stories

Charlie, it is amazing how life sometimes takes completely unexpected turns. You are a lucky man, being surrounded by these beautiful flowers every day...what a dream!

I first noticed that there was such a thing as tropical hibiscus when I dropped my daughter off at her friend's house. Right by the front door was this huge bush with huge brownish flowers. I was stunned, all I had ever seen before were the ubiquitous garden varieties. So on the way back to my car I bent down and peeked at the plant label...hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com. As soon as I got home I went on the computer and checked out the website. WOW!!! Of course I placed my first order right away. And while I may not have as many varieties as I would like, I'm completely hooked. There's just nothing more relaxing than looking at perflect flowers after a stressful day.

On a side note, I love to photograph hummingbirds in flight too and have been quite successful. You can check out my pics here: http://UBSeng.zenfolio.com/p1063603244. Strangely enough, there's only one with a hibiscus, and it's my neighbor's plant 

[Charlie]

Uli, your photos are wonderful! I photographed a hummingbird with hibiscus only once and it was pure luck. Thanks for sharing these, and the story of your discovery of exotic hibiscus.

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Uli,

Those pics are awesome!  What shutter speed do you use to get the humming birds so that their wings aren't blurry?

[Pachrian]

Thanks Charlie and Chris. For hummers I use what I call my "4x4" settings: Canon 40D, 400mm lens, ISO 400, 1/400sec, (f5/6). Light high-sync fill flash and light shade does the trick.

[Nievesgirl]

Uli those are great pics , your lucky to get the pictures I had bad luck hence my story lol

I will try again this summer at my aunt's house. I don't have a good lens for regular shooting , I just have my 105mm macro lens 

[blupit007]

Great topic!   I have loved hibiscus forever.  I called them the "hula" flower.  I have had the plain red garden variety since I can remember in my early teens.  I got serious about photography in high school, and took up macro photography with flowers. 

I got married this July and my mother wanted us to have this personalized signature plate for all the gusts to sign.  The woman would paint flowers on the border along with your names and dates.  I asked her if she could do hibiscus instead of the flowers she usually painted.  She didn't know what they were so I said I would find a photo online for her and email it.  Upon doing this search, I came across one of those photo-shopped crazy looking hibiscus with blue, pink, yellow, purple, orange.....  You know the ones...  Well, my mouth fell open.  Hibiscus only came in red, yellow, and pink?  Right??  Well I started to browse the web and came across HVH.  I read every single page on their site.  I feel bad because we had company and I couldn't get away from the computer.  I was sucked in for life!!

I emailed a photo to the lady and continued to read HVH.  I placed an order for Bonnie Lass & Sleeping Beauty.   The BL & SB were not available so Cindy called me and asked what I would like instead.  I told her Cindy's Heart, Saffron, & Belle du Jour.  She searched the yard and found them and found one of each.  In the meantime, I went to a local tropical nursary (Logee's) which I just found out about this spring as well.  And there I bought a small Cajun Blue.  I also got so anxious and found another site and bought Voodoo Magic, City Slicker, & Gabriel. 

Over the summer my hibiscus collection grew and grew and I now have somewhere around 20.  Luckily they are all small still.  I even have had some seed pods of my own give me some seeds!

As for photography, I saw Uli's hummer photos and thought I would give it a try.  One day I came home around lunch time and found a hummer at my red hibiscus.  I grabbed my camera and started shooting.  Here is a couple of what I got!

[Charlie]

Kristen, I love your hummingbird photos. Between you and Uli we may have enough good photos to set up a web page called "Hibiscus and Hummers". I have one photo to contribute to it, which was pure luck due to the long lag time that older digital cameras had after clicking the shutter button.

These stories about getting involved with hibiscus are so fun to hear. It always comes down to being captivated by the sheer beauty of the flowers plus enjoying the pleasures and pains of growing something. Thanks for sharing your story.

Charlie

[Doll]

It all started for me back in 1977. I remember stumbling across 3 Albo Lacinatus trained as standards in 5 gallon pots. I bought all 3 and planted them in the pots in the ground mainly to keep them from blowing over. They soon just exploded with growth and blooms. It was normal to have 100 blooms per day between the 3. I was hooked. In winter I would just dig them up and cut them back hard. I had them for many years. One year it got extremely cold down to 10 degrees. The little heater I had in my 12x12 greenhouse didn't keep it warm enough and I lost everything.
I grew most of the common garden varieties:
Brilliant
Seminole
Painted Lady
Crown of Bohemia

I'm not sure when I first came across some exotic hibiscus. Some of the popular ones here in Houston were:
Pink Parasol
The Path
Norman Lear
Creole Flame

Whenever I visited a nursery I would check for a variety I didn't have. It truly becomes an addiction.

[Charlie]

Doll, you beat me to hibiscus by quite a few years. I was even living in Houston during the late 70's  but never saw any exotic hibiscus back then. I did grow The Path, Norman Lee, and Creole Flame some years later. The Path is the foundation variety for a number of our most popular hybrids.

Speaking of The Path, I was contacted several years ago by a man who told me he was the hybridizer of The Path and was very pleased that we were distributing so many of them through Zoes Tropicals in Florida. He told me of his struggles to raise a very large family and still find time for growing and hybridizing hibiscus. That's one of the interesting aspects of hybrid or exotic hibiscus - they were created by the efforts of hundreds of back yard grower/hybridizers over the last hundred years or so. A true labor of love.

Charlie

[Doll]

You don't by any chance have any Creole Flame.