January Flower Photos of the Day

[davidwood]

Very nice Vicki, even better when its a surprise, I had a nice Chariots of Fire today as well, also Peppermint Drop and a trio of Acapulco Golds.

Got myself in a bit of a pickle over the last few days, I fed by drench so Epsom Salts about 5 days ago not realising that Magnesium would give me false readings with my water meter, it now tests everything as wet when I can see limp leaves and know some of the cv's are dry.

[davidwood]

Peppermint Drop, Bright Hope and a big fat green blued eyed worm, was about the size of my thumb, it was in an area I had not sprayed, fortunately the are never interested in my Hibs.

[farmer d]

David as always I am amazed by the depth of color you get on your blooms!  Your COF with that dark and well defined eye just takes that bloom to a whole different level.  I love it!  Your garden is looking just great - thank you for posting your pics, a joy to view.

Today is day 26 for this Flirtatious bloom, it is getting close but still hanging in there even with the now hot and very dry weather here.  It has survived just about everything...

Also you can see the cold damage showing up about a week later on my True Love bush.  Strange how the leaves on this plant and my others that showed the effects of cold after some days are turning white instead of the familiar black I see usually the day after.  Oh yeah - this plant has been a very strong grower all winter long.  It is looking just great!

Farmer D

[Ernest]

David, your Bright Hope is magnificent. I was pleasantly surprised when mine bloomed but yours is even better. You will have to carry us through this lean winter. I had lots of buds but now almost as much bud drop. Only a few PLWBs (Pathetic Little Winter Blooms)--none worth a photo.

Erny

[roadrunner]

Beautiful blooms as usual David.  Amazing what you accomplish in that heat. This one is supposed to be Serendipity.  I'm having strong doubts due to the prominent red eye and softer pink and yellow coloring. Bloom size has consistently been 8 to 9 inches and plant gets 8 hrs of direct sunlight inside the house.

dave

[davidwood]

Thanks Dave and all, one thing about the heat here its never affected the colours, in fact my colours are generally very strong and my view on that is its because I get smaller blooms, the colour is then more concentrated [probably wrong I know haha].
If I had a 8inch anything I am overjoyed its that rare, stunning Serendipity if that's what it is.
Darren I have to say that the recent CoFire bloom was easily the best I have had in 4 years, it really surprised me, CoF and Cosmic Gold are the only cv's I have that will normally bloom 2 days the rest its just 1, can you imagine our gardens if all cv's where like your Flirtatious.

[farmer d]

I had lots of buds but now almost as much bud drop. Only a few PLWBs (Pathetic Little Winter Blooms)--none worth a photo.

Erny

Erny how did your plants fair during that cold snap last week?  I would think your location might have been a tad colder than mine each night.  The worst I saw was one night around freezing but it was at least 5 nights that were really cold.

David - I never thought a hibiscus bloom could last so long.  This is double the longest I had last year.  I wonder if it puts out nectar the whole time too as I watch the hummingbirds go to it all the time?

Dave (AZ) that is a pretty bloom.  Winter really makes it hard to know what a bloom truly looks like.  I saw my Acapulco Gold blooms start changing colors in October and the weather was still very much fine up until then.  Something in the plants sense the change in seasons somehow.  I'd be curious to see what your Serendipity looks like mid spring.  Great choice on getting that cv!

Speaking of winter colors I had two fine AG blooms today that are super winterized and just gorgeous with the second one showing some rusty orange edging.  BD is so dark again - for me I like it best in winter and it looks like some more blooms are coming up fast.

Farmer D

[farmer d]

I thought it would be interesting to note that I was all set today to do my weekly feeding today when I noticed the first signs of yellow leaves this winter so that is now off for a while.  I've had the sprinklers on watering everything this past week as the temps have been around 80F.  Normally this has not been a problem with overwatering but with the cold snap we had the previous week I am thinking that the plants significantly slowed down there metabolism and resulting intake of water to the point that what they have been ok with for all year has finally changed.  I was wondering if and when this was going to happen and it looks like it finally has even with the new soil and digs for all my plants. 

It is tricky when the weather changes so drastically in a matter of days.  It's tough when there isn't much long term consistency with the weather, especially with those really cold nights we had for about 5 days in a row.

Here are some pics of some plants showing the subtle but definite signs of too much water from this past week.  Also a pic of Meteor Shower as it has completely shut down from the cold weather and lost all leaves.  Third plant of mine to do that this winter but the first one of decent size.

Farmer D

[Ernest]

Darren, we had one really cold night during that week--actually had fairly significant ice on the car windshield in the morning. The other nights got down to the mid-30s. The plants in the ground seem to have weathered it well. Slapstick is the only one that lost most of its leaves but has some good new growth down close to the ground. A number of branches showed what looked like tip die-back and I've been going around snipping them off. Not sure if that is the right thing to do. The ones that really ate it were the 9 month old seedlings I have in pots in the back patio area. Only a few look totally dead but most of the leaves turned black and have dropped off. Interesting that none of the plants in the ground show black leaves like those in the pots. In retrospect I should have brought the potted plants in at night. I don't know what I was thinking(or rather not thinking) of.

Erny

[davidwood]

Another nice Chariots of Fire and a pair of Cream De Cacao today. Looking forward to tomorrow, one of my seedlings should bloom and its the only one I have with very pronounced fancy foliage so here's hoping its a nice bloom.

[farmer d]

David perfect timing with your COF bloom - I have a couple today so now we can see this one at it's extremes.  Mine are pretty much minis too currently so even more comparable.

A surprising number of blooms today! 

Farmer D

[farmer d]

Farmer D

[farmer d]

Sea of Tranquility hiding out in the corner of the garden with a surprise bloom today too.  Winter makes some drastically different colorations...

Farmer D

[Ernest]

Temps in the high 70s for the past week have produced some blooms after 3-4 weeks of nothing. Most are small and look nothing like their spring and summer colors. The one exception is Silver Dragon. Darren, my Living legend looks just like yours. Also Titan Venus, Rainbow sherbet, and Valentine's Day.

Erny

[Ernest]

More winter blooms:
Delta Dawn
Deep Waters
California Beauty
Daisy Mae
Summer Shore
Inner Compass