March Flowers of the Day

[Louis]

Very interesting, Charlie, thanks.

louis

[helixturnhelix]

Sunkissed Blonde and Flickerin flame

[davidwood]

Very nice picture above of Sunkissed Blonde,first time i have seen it.But the picture sent by Louis is stunning,to have a view like that with all the snow and have Tropical Hibiscus in the shot,amazing.

[helixturnhelix]

A few more today.  

Heaven's scent, Flickering Flame, Sunkissed blonde

It might be too cold outside for them, but spring is here inside and many buds forming with the increase in day length and sunlight.  

[Charlie]

Chris, I had one very enthusiastic customer in Colorado several years ago. She bought dozens of hibiscus every spring but as expected most were gone by the following year. We didn't stress in the house overwintering as much back then but you are showing that it can be done with great results. Thanks for sharing your photos.

Charlie

[Charlie]

I think someone asked about new seedling photos. As mentioned before I don't trust winter bloom colors, particularly on seedlings that are blooming for the first time, so I don't take or show such photos. Often they are taken in winter greenhouses and the colors are just not what anyone will see when the plants bloom in normal conditions. However, we are getting closer to the norm now and I have taken some photos of brand new first blooms recently that may be close to their summer colors. I won't make any decisions about them until I've seen them bloom in June and July.

Here are a few of them that show promise:

1. Born To Be Wild x Allure
2. Rainbow Christi x P's Purple
3. Living Legend x Love Story
4. Living Legend x Simple Pleasures
5. Born To Be Wild x Allure
6. Saffron x Bubble Gum Fun (very large at 9 inches)

Charlie

[Darkhorse]

Charlie,

  I LOVE the first bloom (BTBW x Allure)!

[helixturnhelix]

Thanks for sharing those pics Charlie!

I really like the P Purple x RC.  Interesting that it has a white eye and not the dark eye of RC. 

I have been surprised how well all the plants have been doing this winter.  Here is Dragon's Breath this morning.   

[Charlie]

Jordan, that first one has a lot in common with Born To Be Wild such as the heavy texture of the bloom. I hope it roots and otherwise does well. BTBW does not root so not many have ever been out there although I did graft some for later this summer.

Chris, good point about the white eye of the Rainbow Christie cross. RC has such a big and dominant dark eye that this is really a surprise. P's Purple has a small and simple lavender bloom but there are lots of hidden qualities in that European style cv that make it good for hybridizing. Great vigor and rootability in many of the offspring although flower size is limited in the first generation. This flower was 6 inches, a compromise between the 8" RC flowers and the 4-5 inch flowers of P's Purple.

I see your Dragon's Breath bloom has some of the black in the red that makes this flower so nice and contrasts so well with the white swirls. The black doesn't always appear in winter blooms, particularly indoors. I'm wondering what effects the altitude you are at has on flower characteristics. If any, the effects must be good ones because your blooms have been excellent this winter.

I had another first bloom on a seedling yesterday that is probably accurate for color. I'm very pleased with this one because I've been trying to find a big, fancy yellow with a white eye. The cross is the new Cosmic Gold x Creme de la Creme and the bloom is 8 inches. I can't speak to the bush or whether it will root but the flower is just what I've been wanting.

Charlie

[Nievesgirl]

I too like BTBW x allure cross

Thanks for sharing I love seeing seedling blooms, even tho your not sure on the color. I can't wait to see my crosses and Chris's crosses bloom !  This spring/ summer I hope to send you a lot of seeds lol

[helixturnhelix]

Hi Charlie,

I wonder if altitude does have any effect, and interesting thing to look at. 

I like your comment about using European CVs and crossing them to American and Australian CVs, since they are developed independently of one another.  It makes sense that crossing these different regional CVs would produce more vigorous plants, especially since when you look at American CVs there is alot of overlap in the CVs being crossed due to availability.  I know you have used alot of Australian CVs (Gwen Marie and Rosalind) to hybridize, but have you used any Hawaiian Cvs?  I understand that there are few CVs from Hawaii that were developed using their native plants. 

Kerry, I cant wait to see what the seedlings look like, good or bad

[davidwood]

Charlie I love that Cosmic Gold x,but could you tell me what you mean by a seedling bloom,how old is the plant now?,and just because i am curious what do you do with a plant as lovely as that if it does not meet the standards you set.

[Charlie]

Hi David,

When we say "seedling" we mean a plant that is grown from a seed. The seed is obtained by cross-pollinating 2 of our existing varieties. In this case we took pollen from Creme de la Creme and used it to pollinate a bloom of Cosmic Gold. The seeds that formed in the ovaries of Cosmic Gold received half their genes from each of the 2 varieties. Each seed gets genes from each parent but which specific genes are passed is different for each seed. The average seed pod yields 10 unique seeds although it can vary from 1 to about 50 seeds per pod.

 Then we germinate the seed and grow the plant for about a year before it flowers for the first time. That first flower is very exciting because up til then we do not know what it will look like and it can be very similar to one of the parents, an obvious mix of the two parents, or something very different that comes from previous generations or new ways that the genes combine.

The photo I posted was the very first bloom from this new plant grown from seed. It was germinated last summer and has been growing ever since but only now made its first flower. If we like it enough to want more plants than this one from seed we have to clone it by rooting cuttings from it or grafting a cutting from it onto what we call a root stock hibiscus. The clones are genetically identical to the original seed grown plant so of course they have the same flowers as the first plant. We call it a new variety once we give it a name.

We really don't have space to continue to grow the plants that do not meet our needs or expectations so they are usually composted. I've considered offering them to people who might want a "one of a kind" that no one else has because the flowers are usually ok and the plants not terrible. We are trying to improve the species so keep only those that seem to be an improvement of some kind.

Thanks for the good question.

Charlie

[Manekineko]

my hibiscuses flowerings in March

[Manekineko]

and last   for today
Charlie, to my mind very beautiful flowers at 2. Rainbow Christi x P's Purple
and 5. Born To Be Wild x Allure