News from Hidden Valley Hibiscus

Greetings fellow hibiscus lovers!

Spring shipping is in full swing, and many of you have already received your hibiscus plants. We have just starting to ship to the coldest northern states this week, and most plants will ship by the end of May. A few straggling varieties and very cold places won't ship until the first week in June. But if all goes well, our spring shipping should be caught up and finished by June 10. After that all orders will ship immediately.

This month we are focusing on the aesthetics of hibiscus ~ how to make the flowers their prettiest! Our first article will help you learn how to Maximize Your Hibiscus Flower Colors. Different types of pigments have different requirements, so read below to learn what you need to know to make your hibiscus as beautiful as possible.

Another beauty feature of many hibiscus is the little extra ruffly petals called Petaloids that sometimes pop out. If you've ever wondered how and why hibiscus get them, read all about them below!

Last but not least, don't forget to scroll to the very bottom of the newsletter to see our newest Seedling of the Month!

Happy blooming to all!

Charles & Cindy Black

We say, we say it again, again, and again, and then we still say it more...... If you want big, pretty flowers, you have to use potassium. You can skimp on other things, but never skimp on potassium! If you do, your hibiscus will go downhill after a few years, and your flowers will go downhill even faster. If there is only one thing you buy from us it should be our Special-Blend Fertilizer or our Hibiscus Booster. Both contain high quantities of potassium and will make your hibiscus plants bloom more frequently with bigger and more colorful flowers. If you can afford to use both products together, you'll see the very best you can see from your hibiscus. It takes very little of each of them with each watering, so they last a long time. But a little makes a huge difference in blooming!

A pale 'Splash!' in cool weather without potassium

These two pictures of 'Splash!' show how crucial potassium is for pigment development. As we wrote in last month's newsletter, many flower pigments are carried and developed in cell sap, and hibiscus need high levels of potassium in order to make cell sap. More potassium means more cell sap, which means more color pigments.

Oranges, Yellows, & Tomato Reds
Need Sun & Heat!

'Exuberance' in August sun Orange & yellow pigments are fully developed.

Oranges, yellows and the more orangy reds in hibiscus flowers all come from the pigment family called carotenoids. These are the same pigments that we humans take in several vitamins, like beta-carotene and lycopene. They protect the plant from sun, just as melanin does in human skin. So the more sun the plant gets, the more of these pigments the plant will make and the brighter your yellow, orange and tomato red colors will be.

Carotenoids are the toughest hibiscus pigments. They are oil-soluble pigments that are enclosed in little oil-filled structures called plastids inside the flower petals. These little plastids all line up together inside the petals forming a strong, protective shield against sun and heat damage. If you live in a very hot or sunny place, these tough carotenoids are the colors for you. Carotenoids love sun and won't develop without it. In midsummer heat, the colors will be lush and bright.

If you live in a place where temperatures frequently reach 110F (43C) or higher, full, hot sun will burn past the carotenoids and burn up the flower, just as too much extreme, desert sun can overcome even the darkest tanned skin and give humans a sunburn. In places of extreme high heat, a few hours of early morning sun is all the plants need during the summer months. Then they need full shade protection from the sun for the rest of the day. Alternately, providing some kind of partial shade structure throughout the day also works well. If you can cut the sun down by about 50%, hibiscus will get enough sun to bloom beautifully with full carotenoid development, without burning up the flowers.

'Exuberance' in cool, rainy January Orange & yellow pigments are scanty & pale.

Alternately, in cool winter and spring, or if you live in a place that is cool and cloudy all year round, it will be harder for the plant to fully develop the hot carotenoid colors. You may struggle to ever see a really bright yellow or orange. In these places, it's very important to put your hibiscus plant in the sunniest possible spot in your garden. In far northern places, the longer days helps make up for cloudy days, so try to put your hibiscus in places where they will get sun from sunrise to sunset if possible. This will give your plants enough sun exposure to really bring out all their yellows, oranges, and tomato reds.

Blues, Purples, Browns & Scarlets
Need Some Shade & Cool Temps

'Fire and Ice' growing as a houseplant Cool indoor temps and less sun bring out all the anthocyanin colors ~ red, blue & pink

Blue, purple, scarlet and brown colors come from very fragile pigments called anthocyanins. They are directly dissolved in the water of cell sap throughout the plant. They aren't fully encased and protected like the oil-soluble carotenoids, so the sun can easily burn them away. Because these pigments are made directly in cell sap, they are also the very first colors to disappear if the plant doesn't have enough potassium.

Anthocyanins are cool-loving pigments. One of their main roles in plants is to protect the plant from cold stress. So the colder it gets, the more anthocyanins the plant produces. The scarlet red colors of autumn leaves are anthocyanins, and they develop in response to fall cold snaps. Too much hot summer sun burns anthocyanins away sadly. We see this with our blue, purple and brown hibiscus flowers in high summer heat. Fortunately for us, hibiscus are tropical plants who think that they are getting chilly if sun or temperatures drop down even a little bit. So even a small amount of protection from sun and heat can help develop blues, browns, purples, and scarlets. But the very deepest, darkest anthocyanin colors will always tend to develop and last longer in very cool, cloudy weather. For hot locations, this means your anthocyanin colors will be best from late fall, through winter, and into early spring.

'Fire and Ice' demonstrates this with all its colors. Its blue and scarlet red come from anthocyanin pigments. The flower above was grown inside an air-conditioned house in a window that got only early morning sun. This cool, shadier location developed all the anthocyanin colors - more red, blue and even touches of icy anthocyanin pink. The flower below was grown in hot, full midsummer sun in the unshaded part of our greenhouse. The pigments did not fully develop until we moved the plant to a shadier part of our greenhouse.

'Fire and Ice' outdoors in full sun Summer heat & sun burn away the anthocyanin colors ~ red, blue & pink

So if you love blue, purple, brown, icy pink, or the darker, bluer, scarlet red hibiscus flowers, and you live in a hot sunny location, you may want to put your hibiscus on the north side of your house or under a tree or shade structure in order to help your plants fully develop their anthocyanin pigments. Or you can just expect your flowers to develop their full pigmentation in fall, winter or spring.

Pinks Are The Most Tolerant
Under Many Conditions

'Rosita' is a mix of anthocyanins & carotenoids This gives it strong color under all weather conditions

Pinks are basically light reds in terms of pigmentation. The red pigments can come from either carotenoids or from anthocyanins, or a mix of both, giving them all the advantages of both types of pigments. Additionally, the red anthocyanins that make pink flowers, and many red hibiscus flower too, are the toughest of the anthycyanins. They take summer heat much better than the blue anthocyanins, and they increase greatly in cool weather like all anthocyanins. So pinks are the perfect year-round hibiscus flower. This is partly why pink hibiscus flowers are so popular. They tend to be very brightly colored at all times of year, in all kinds of weather, and in any amount of sun. 'Rosita' and 'Fuchsia Delight' are examples of this type of sturdy pink flower. They are reliably deep pink at all times of year in all types of locations. If you want a hibiscus that looks good all year round, go pink!

Many Pastels Need Partial Shade & Cool Temps

Many pastel flowers get their color from the fragile anthocyanin pigments and from another fragile type of pigment called flavanols which produce soft yellow colors. Flavanols, like anthocyanins, are water soluble pigments that float free and unprotected in cell sap, so they are easily burned away by sun and heat. If you like pastel flowers, you may want to experiment a bit before you put your plant into a permanent spot in the ground. Try out a few places in pots to see where the flowers develop the colors you like best. For many pastels, this will be partial shade.

Most Spots, Splashes & Markings Need Sun!

'Cherry Glow' develops its anthocyanin red deeply in cool, shady conditions.

Most spots, splashes, and other color markings on hibiscus flowers need sun to develop. White coloration comes from an absence of pigmentation, so to develop a white spot on a red flower, for example, the red pigments have to be burned away or not allowed to develop. This takes sun. Yellow, orange and red markings tend to be carotenoids, and these also require sun and heat to develop.

The red of 'Cherry Glow' softens to a pinker color and white spots develop in heat & sun.

'Cherry Glow' is an example. In cooler or shadier conditions, the red becomes very deeply pigmented because it is made mostly of anthocyanins that need cool shade to fully develop. In summer heat and lots of sun, the anthocyanins burn away partially in some places, softening the red to a vivid pink color. In other places the pigments burn away completely creating beautiful white spots.

The study of hibiscus pigments and how they play out in flowers is a complex subject that is hard to write up into one small article! Scientists still don't understand plant pigmentation very well, often leaving us with as many questions as answers. We hope this little synopsis does help you understand which hibiscus varieties will do best in your area, and where to put your plants in your hibiscus garden. To read our earlier article on hibiscus pigments and their variability with weather conditions, go to The Mystery of Hibiscus Colors. As science advances our understanding, watch for future articles on hibiscus colors!

 

What About Petaloids?

Why do they sometimes appear on flowers, and other times not?

Petaloids grow out of the end of the stamenal column, just below the pollen sacs.

Petaloids are another little interesting phenomenon in the hibiscus world. These are little ruffly extra petals that develop at the end of the stamenal column, popping out just beneath the pollen sacs. They add to the beauty of the flowers, giving them an extra ruffly effect. Petaloids are largely in the genes of certain hibiscus varieties, but any hibiscus can unexpectedly pop them out, depending on the conditions it is grown in.

'Flame Thrower' with signature petaloids

Some hibiscus varieties, like 'Flame Thrower' and 'Daffodil,' are genetically programmed to have petaloids most of the time. Other hibiscus never get petaloids, and still others pop them out occasionally when conditions are optimum for their development. But even varieties like 'Flame Thrower' and 'Daffodil' that should have petaloids, at times don't grow them. What causes this? Is there something we can do to bring out petaloids in hibiscus that should have them?

Petaloids Need Potassium, Sun & Heat!

Petaloids are very much like the hot-colored flower pigments. They need potassium, sun, and heat to develop. They develop most fully in midsummer and early fall heat, and they tend to get smaller, or even disappear, in cool early spring or winter weather. If you have a flower that should have petaloids but isn't showing them, try to put the plant in a sunnier, warmer place, and give it more potassium (

'Daffodil' almost always has petaloids

Heat, sun and potassium will frequently bring out petaloids in varieties that don't normally sport them. In a midsummer hibiscus garden with good nutrition, some hibiscus varieties can suddenly develop cute little petaloids all over the place. 'Acapulco Gold' is one of these varieties that often does this in heat, and interestingly about 40% of its offspring do too. So the tendency to develop petaloids is clearly genetic.

Potassium, heat, and sun bring out petaloids in 'Acapulco Gold' in midsummer heat

Under the right conditions, many hibiscus can occasionally develop a petaloid or two unexpectedly. Sometime we don't even really notice them. But if you keep an eye out for them this summer, you'll probably see some. When all the colors and markings are at their peak of intensity, it's a little bit of icing on the cake for nature to add little ruffly petaloids to our lovely hibiscus flowers!

Seedling of the Month...                               Mystic Waters Exotic Hibiscus 'Mystic Waters' Top flower shows opening colors on day 1. Bottom 2 flowers show softer colors on day 2. This is 'Mystic Waters,' our May Seedling of the Month. We chose 'Mystic Waters' because it looks like it's going to be an all-round great hibiscus cultivar. We are in the earliest stages with this new seedling, so there still a lot to learn about it. But when everyone at HVH who walks by a new seedling falls in love with it, we can't help but get excited! From what we've seen so far, this new seedling seems to have it all. First, 'Mystic Waters' is a great bloomer! Although still a young plant, it frequently has multiple blooms open at one time, and the flowers so far have been consistently 8-9 inches across. We don't have any plants yet that have reached full maturity to know the mature flower size, so it's possible that it may develop even bigger flowers. The bush is upright and full, with lots of branches, and lush foliage. The large flowers present perfectly on the sides of the bush, putting on a beautiful display. The flowers of 'Mystic Waters' open in a dark blue and a glowing pink ruffly single with a red eye. The top flower in this photo shows the opening colors. The two flowers beneath it show the second-day colors, a softer blue and orange, but still very beautiful. 'Mystic Waters' seems to take after its father 'Thunderhead' with the durable pigments, great upright bush and prolific blooming. Mother 'Mountain Air' also contributed genes for prolific blooming. If all goes well, we may have 'Mystic Waters' available for sale sometime in 2018. We hope you like it as much as we do!