Saffron

[GrowTropical]

I was lucky to get an 8 inch pot of Saffron 2 summers ago. I noticed it was not available most of last year but the one I bought the year before was very full and once it started blooming just never quit (except for Dec-Feb when none of my tropicals bloom much). I pruned it in early spring and had to wait for it to regrow before it started blooming last year. That took until mid June but was worth the wait because it came back even thicker than before and I had dozens of flowers from June until Thanksgiving, many times multiples on the bush at once which is quite a sight since Saffron is big at 8 inch across usually. The orange color is more striking than you might think, and the white eye is a perfect backdrop for it. This one may have the best growth pattern of all my new hibiscus, sort of a Xmas tree shape now and perfectly full on all sides and upright, no droopiness at all. I hope HVH gets this one back again because it is one of the best in my opinion and I'm thinking of adding at least one more to my garden this summer. I also hope they have em in big sizes as I don't have the patience to grow the small ones and they don't go in my garden very well. The six inch are fine and most I bought were already budded and blooming and did not need pruning until the next year. The 8 inch or 2 gallon are my favorites but unfortunately the varieties I want are not always available in the largest sizes.

Short story - Saffron is a Winner, if you like brightly colored hibiscus it will be all you expect and more!!!!

[Charlie]

Thanks for the positive comment, Grow Tropical. I couldn't agree with you more - Saffron is one of the most solid all around good cultivars we grow. Big, bright, well formed flowers and a bush that is as good as they get...so far. And yes, we will have them back this year although 6 inch is the biggest pot size until mid to late summer. The 6 inch will be well branched and budded up, as you expect from that size potted hibiscus. Let's see if I can come up with a photo not already on the website.

Charlie

[nina]

Hi, Growtropical and Charlie,

I like your descriptions of Saffron. it caught my eye long ago...I would like to know how it behaves in the summer heat? Growtropical, what is your climate zone?

[kris]

I noticed on the May 2009 newsletter you just released that many of your promising seedlings have saffron as their parent.  Looks like saffron is a great plant to use for hybridizing!  'Ghost' looks like a real surprise offspring because it is a pure white, perhaps an improved Byron Metts? Look forward to seeing more new seedlings!

[Charlie]

Hi Kris,

I tend to rotate among seed setters, and many of the latest batch of seedlings that are flowering came from Saffron seeds. I'm also using Simple Pleasures, Rainbow Sherbet, Moonstruck, Cosmic Gold, Living Legend and Creme de Cacao a lot in recent times. 

Getting a solid white from Saffron x Berried Treasure was a real surprise. That cross has also made very intense colored flowers, mostly solids in various shades of red and purple. We named it after Cindy's beloved cat who passed away recently at the age of 18 - a very cool all white cat with blue eyes that would gaze unflinchingly into ours. Anyway, I'm hoping the overall plant will turn out to be good enough so that we can release this one next year.

Charlie

[GrowTropical]

Nina, you asked about the growing weather where I am. I'm in southern California close to Los Angeles and a few miles inland from the beach. Summer temps are 80s in the day and 60s most nights. Sometimes it gets warmer but not that often.

I just received 2 new Saffron plants, both in 6 inch pots. It's a great cultivar in my experience. Blooms constantly and the flowers are big, mostly 8 inches or so. Also to my liking the flowers do not reflex or open cupped as some other large flowers often do for me. The orange color is just the right shade - bright and eye catching, and the white eye is more pleasing to me than the standard red eye often seen. The bushes are not super vigorous but that's ok because the growth is orderly and even and the result is a full, attractive bush in my yard. I wanted to have 4 of them to anchor certain focal spots in the yard and now I have them so we will see how it ends up looking.

Is this more or less what you wanted to know?

[kris]

Ok these should work

[nina]

Hi, Growtropical ,

I was absent for some time...Thank you for your answer.

[helixturnhelix]

My experience with Saffron is she has big beautiful flowers and is pretty fast growing and blooms alot.  However, I find that mine is very persnickety when it comes to weather conditions.  Any change in amount of sunlight, overcast cool days, or when it gets to hot she disguards all of her buds, grrrr.  Saffron seems to be the most sensitive to weather conditions out of all my hibiscus, but she is worth the extra trouble

[nina]

Oh, I am sorry to hear this. In that case, Saffron is definitely not for me...I want to enjoy my blooms in summer. And it was the first one on my list....

ciao, Nina

[Charlie]

Saffron blooms contantly for us, in the greenhouse, in the house, in the garden. You have to keep the thrips off her and most of the hibiscus in order to see how they really can perform. I can't repeat this enough, but it takes personal experience to see that it is true and the most important thing anyone can do to stop bud drop. I think Nina does not have access to the pesticides that work against thrips, but they may not be the same problem where Nina lives as in an agricultural area like southern California. I know Yvonne had them in Sweden and I think they live everywhere wildflowers are found.

BTW, do the locals reading this realize that California grows more $$$ value of ornamental plants than anywhere in the US including Florida and that San Diego County is the largest producer in California.

Back to Chris. Do you have a bottle of Spinosad concentrate? You need it! Spinosad is the gentlest of all pesticides, certified for organic food growers, but for some reason is absolutely deadly on thrips. If you start using it twice a week you will see the end of most bud drop on your hibiscus. Really.

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Hi Charlie,

I just thought it was the really hot weather that was causing bud drop.  I guess I didn't suspect thrips because the buds didnt turn yellow, the peduncle turned brown and the green buds fell off.  Is that how Saffron responds to thrips?  Having said that, the one bud on my bonnie lass is turning yellow, so thrips is probably a problem.  I will go and try to find some spinosad today and hopefully save some buds.   I already pruned Saffron back, so its a little to late with that one.  I think it needed it though because I got it in the 6' pot size in april and it had two branchs, hopefully now I will have 4-6 from this pruning.  And I have three cuttings that I hope will strike. 

Off to find Spinosad

-Chris

[Charlie]

Chris, the one company that makes it available in our area is Green Light. I think Green Thumb garden centers carry it sometimes. The concentrate is the way to go if you can find it since the ready mixed bottle gets used up fast. You don't even need to get complete leaf coverage top and bottom like you would when spraying for some insects, just spray the tops of stems and buds.

The way the different varieties react to thrips varies and the weather makes a difference, too. Recently I thought a table of Magnifique 6" plants were dropping all their buds do to the increase in heat. I used the same idea you did - they were falling off half grown and without turning yellow. They got brown and crunchy and fell of in vast numbers (that cv does make a lot of buds!).

However I increased the frequency of thripicide treatments in the whole greenhouse because with the increase in heat I knew thrips would multiply much more rapidly. To my surprise and delight the Magnifique buds stopped dropping and are beginning to bloom again. The only conclusion I can come up with is that their drop was related to increased thrips pressure, too. 

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Charlie,

That is interesting you experienced the same thing with magnifique, I hope that this is all thrips and not something worse.  I am going to go to green thumb asap to grab some.  I hope this stops bud drop

-Chris

[helixturnhelix]

I just sprayed all of my plants, hopefully the bud drop will stop!