Which cv's can handle strong sun.

[davidwood]

Please note i am asking about sunshine and not heat[will still perform ok without shade]. It appears that some cv's will be fine if shaded and the temperature is over a hundred,but what cv's can sit in the sun for say 4 to 5 hours and still be ok.
I can offer one as a starter and that's Samba Dancer,its in full strong sun for about 4 hours and its still blooming lovely,are there any others as i want to buy a few more and i will not be able to protect them as well,i have run out of room again.

 So far we have as high ''Sun Tolerant'' cv's.

Bridal Path
Belle du Jour
Cindy’s Heart
Creole Belle
Fifth Dimension
Heartbreak hotel
High Voltage
Hot Pepper
Hot Summer Nights
Living Legend
Rainbow Sherbet
Rosalind
Rosa-Sinensis
P’s Purple
Pineapple Sundae
Saffron
Samba dancer
Sherlocks Mystery
Simple Pleasures
Space Oddity

I will add to this list as people reply.

[Doll]

Hot Pepper can take the sun as well as H. rosa-sinensis. I am guessing that most of the Australian cultivars can handle the amount of sun you are talking about. So probably Gwen Mary as well.

[Darkhorse]

Fifth Dimension is another classic that can handle a lot of sun.  Seems like it kid Space Oddity likes sun as well.

[davidwood]

Thanks,i have put myself on the waiting list for Fifth Dimension. If Charlie should read this what are the chances of Fifth Dimension ever becoming available. I looked at it in the gallery and its a stunner. Mind you there are quite a few beauties in there that i have never seen in the shop, is it a case of once they are all sold that's it,never to return,or do you reintroduce a plant that was say popular 3 years ago when you feel the time is right.

[Charlie]

Interesting thread. Our hibiscus garden is a pretty good test area for this since almost all of it has direct sun from dawn to dusk. Most of the year our temperatures are mild compared to the desert southwest and even the Gulf Coast states. Unfortunately only a small fraction of the many available varieties have been tested so far. Those that have done the best are Saffron, High Voltage, Living Legend, Cindy's Heart, Rosalind, Rainbow Sherbet, Belle du Jour, Heartbreak Hotel (surprisingly), and Simple Pleasures.

That's really good news about Samba Dancer. I am always looking for double flowered varieties that can deal with the heat and direct sun.

I hope more people will share their "sun tolerant" varieties in this thread.

Charlie

[Charlie]

Thanks,i have put myself on the waiting list for Fifth Dimension. If Charlie should read this what are the chances of Fifth Dimension ever becoming available. I looked at it in the gallery and its a stunner. Mind you there are quite a few beauties in there that i have never seen in the shop, is it a case of once they are all sold that's it,never to return,or do you reintroduce a plant that was say popular 3 years ago when you feel the time is right.

I've been planning to graft some 5th Dimension but haven't done it yet. It does root sometimes but is one of those that probably does better as a grafted plant. 2 of them died in our garden but I think it is the cold that gets to them rather than sun/heat. In your climate it might thrive since they do well in the greenhouse. It does not have the greatest bush but is at least mostly upright and blooms a lot.

Some varieties do not seem to come back into the store but often that is because they sell very quickly or via the waiting list so are not noticed in the store. I only drop a variety for one of 2 reasons - it does not propagate well or a serious flaw is seen on several plants of it. For example, we had a large pink single named Flamingo Lake a few years ago but the bushes sprawled so badly I could not justify selling it although the flower was quite nice. Or as another example, we have a fairly large dark blue flower named Blue Curacao that many wanted but propagation failed so often with that one both rooted and grafted that I stopped trying.

Hibiscus are plants and each variety has its good and bad points and a sort of natural rhythm to the way it grows. I have to work with that and not try to impose a factory approach on them. Mass producers of plants are limited to those varieties that can be made to fit the factory mold but Cindy and I chose not to go that route and instead to work with a large number of varieties that have desirable qualities even if that means we can only propagate them sporadically. For instance, some cannot be cut constantly for wood and it is necessary to let them grow and flower without being cut or they fail to thrive. Dragon's Breath is one of those. Some years we have a decent amount of it but other years very few - it depends on the stock plants and how well they are coming back from being cut back for wood the previous time.

Charlie

[davidwood]

I have rewrote this thread so should be easy now for me to add cv's and easy for anyone to use as a reference.

[Charlie]

Thanks, David. It's a useful thread and I hope we will see additions made to it in the future.

Charlie

[Charlie]

Doll, you are right about many of the Australian cultivars. There is a lot of sun in the districts where hibiscus are popular and not a lot of big shade trees. From what I gather communicating with hibiscus enthusiasts in Oz is that many more hibiscus are planted in the ground than is typical here in the US. I think this is because the winters are milder and the plants do not need to be moved into winter protection. The popular and successful varieties tend to be those that can fend for themselves in the landscape. I've seen photos of some very large and beautiful bushes growing in Oz (Oz is what the locals call Australia much of the time so I use it since it is so much easier to type).

We did a variety swap of about 100 cultivars from each side with 2 Australian commercial growers over 10 years ago. We tried to do it again a few years ago but government restrictions in both countries make it difficult and expensive to achieve. On this side we are required to keep the imported plants in quarantine for 2 years during which there are 4 random, unannounced inspections by the ag dept. On their side the wood that is sent is treated with a very toxic chemical on arrival and then held for a period of time. The importer has to go to the Agriculture station and graft the wood there and leave the plants there, hoping they will survive. Some of the wood is damaged by the exposure to the toxic chemical methyl bromide and does not survive grafting.

That's probably more than you want to know but the point is that we were not able to organize another successful trade of varieties. A few varieties are smuggled through the mail each year, despite the fact that breaking the law in this way carries stiff fines for anyone caught. We don't participate in this and due to unique pests living in each area think it's a bad idea.

Australia has also been through the worst drought in its modern history the last few years. I'm not sure how it stands now but I do know that it put the dampers on hibiscus growing in Oz. Water restrictions were and maybe still are an issue for gardeners there.

Charlie

[Pachrian]

David, you said you were asking about sun, not heat. As you may know I live in Southern California, where the sun can be brutal even when the air temperatures are low. With the exception of Dragon's Heart all my cv's in 8" pots or larger receive full sun all day long. Please remember we had a VERY mild summer. On the rare occasions when the temperatures climbed towards 90 I put some of the pots under the palm trees during the 3 hottest hours where they still received mottled sunlight, but also a bit of shade. Others went under an umbrella made of that shade cloth material that still lets 50% sunlight get through. Again, this was not because of the sun, but rather because of the sun/heat combination. Bridal Path and, surprisingly, P's Purple never see any shade during the day, but they receive a lot of water. None of my cv's get sunburnt.

Here's a list:
Bridal Path, P's Purple, Voodoo Magic, Belle du Jour, Chariots of Fire, Creole Lady (sun/heat sensitive), Fantasy Charm, Magic Moments, Fallen Hero, Acapulco Gold, Cranberry Muffin, Saffron, Crystal Magic, Arabian Princess, Night Magic and Russ Estey

[davidwood]

Thanks Uli,reading that if i have it correct i can add P's Purple [more later] and Bridal Path. These are the 2 you say you can leave out in the sun all day and they still perform. I am not really asking if they get sunburnt but more no matter the heat and the sun you still get blooms and you don't have to worry about shade.

After reading what you wrote a few weeks ago about P"s Purple and seeing the pictures i moved it to where it got about an extra 1 and a half hours of sun a day and i now finally have buds,so it seems this cv needs a bit of extra sun to perform which is very usefull to know.

I am hoping soon to be able to add Pineapple Sundae to the list,its getting 3 hours a day of blazing sun now and is still flowering,next week if i see no ill effects i will try it for 4 hours a day.

[Charlie]

These are all interesting and useful comments. Uli was right in mentioning that sunshine and heat cannot really be separated, since they are closely connected. The hotter it is the less sunshine hibiscus can take, and the cooler it is the more sunshine they need. Even so, looking at the varieties through one variable at a time is still useful, in this case how much sun they can take.

We learned from Chris earlier this summer that direct sun at hight altitude is more stressful on hibiscus than at sea level. He moved from southern California to Colorado and grew hibiscus in both places so has a good basis for comparison.

David lives at sea level (I think) but in Vietnam which is not quite at the equator but is getting close to it. Sunshine is very direct there and that could also influence the results of growing hibiscus in the direct sun. Richard Johnson in Tahiti grows his hibiscus on top of his house on a flat concrete roof. Between the rain showers and his drip system he keeps them well watered and they seem to do fine although I bet he would say some do better than others.

Humidity factors into the whole equation, too, but for this thread sunshine is our main factor for discussion.

Charlie

[davidwood]

You are right Charlie i do live at sea level. Does Richard Johnson in Tahiti come on the forum much,i would imagine we both grow in very similar conditions weather wise and would be very interested to hear how he gets on, strangely enough my garden is also built on a flat concrete roof.
Pineapple Sundae had 6 hours of blazing sun yesterday,there was no crisping or drooping of the leaves and the bloom was the same all day so i think once i see new buds come i can safely add that cv to the list.

[Charlie]

David, I've known Richard for over a decade. He bought his first hibiscus from HVH back then and has developed a serious case of hibiscus enthusiasm ever since. But be forewarned, he recently has been lamenting that after years of growing on his roof, water has started to get inside and he may be facing a huge re-roofing bill. He says that if he does he plans to seal the next roof with some sort of waterproofing. He has several thousand plants in different size pots so obviously pours a lot of water onto them which is probably why the problem came about. He recently told me that his time is limited but that he tries to read at least some of the posts here when he can.

Charlie

[motherof4]

WOW....several thousand on his rooftop!!!!!....Amazing