TRADITIONAL HOME, May 2000, PAGES 52-57
KNOCK-YOUR-SOCKS-OFF HIBISCUS (2nd page)
By Elvin McDonald
(Main article)
Known botanically as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis - "rose of China" - the species has never been found in the wild, yet early European explorers found many ornamental forms growing near Chinese temples and palaces. A double red was being cultivated at London's Chelsea Physic Garden as early as 1731. Ross Gast, who traveled around the world in the early'1960s in an attempt to trace the origins of Chinese hibiscus, theorizes that Polynesians who left India and migrated through the South Pacific islands were the first to spread various varieties to different parts of the world. In the Pacific, the peoples of Malaysia, Tahiti, Fiji, and Hawaii have all formed relationships 'to hibiscus, identifying them with cultural and religious traditions.
However, it was in Hawaii at the beginning of the 20th century that the breeding of hibiscus really got under way. The "native" forms - imports from China and introductions by the Polynesians - were crossed with other species, like the split-petaled Hibiscus schizopetalus from Kenya, Tanzania, and Northern Mozambique, and the resulting hybrids were spectacular compared to previous plants. The first show in 1914 featured 400 different blooms. Thousands of new varieties followed, and in 1923, Hawaii adopted the hibiscus as its official flower.
After World War 11, interest in Chinese hibiscus flowered in the United States, and the American Hibiscus Society was formed. Members and other connoisseurs cultivated ever-increasing numbers of new and different hibiscus. Northerners discovered that Chinese hibiscus grew as easily as any house plant in a sunny window; moreover, since the blooms appear on new wood, pruning to size .Continued on page 57
(Right column)GRAFTING FOR SUPERIOR HIBISCUS
Chinese hibiscus are variously propagate from seeds and cuttings, by grafting, and by air-layering. Seedlings can flower in 12 to 18 months, but their genetic complexity makes them useful primarily for experimental purposes or as part of a dedicated breeding program. Air-layering is relatively slow but produces a plant identical to the one from which it was taken. It mayor may not be suited to growing on its own roots.
Charles Black has taken grafting techniques common to fruit and rose growers and applied them to Chinese hibiscus. The result is a vigorous but compact bush on a strong root system. He uses 'Pride of Hankins,' an old cultivar with all-around good habits, as the rootstock. Propagation of a new cultivar can be relatively rapid by this method, because numerous bud eyes along a stem can foster new plants.
Top to bottom: Because they bloom on hew wood, new grafted hibiscus typically ptoduce full-size flowers on fledgling rooted cuttings of the rootstock.
Charles removes a sliver of outer wood from both the budwood and the rootstock, exposing the cambium of each part.
The cambium of one part is pressed against the other and secured with rubber grafting tape, which disintegrates after its work is done.
Grafted cuttings are stuck directly into small pots filled with a soilless potting mix, in which they will take root.
Picture text: Above: A bush-form 'Georgia's Pearl' and tree-form standards of 'High Voltage' and 'Donna Lynn' bring lavish blooms to the Los Angeles garden of Janis Blackschleger. The metal arch and gates were designed by Ken Short. Left: Around-the-year bloom is possible in a sunny window with hybrids such as 'Mystic Pink' and 'Amber Suzanne.'
