February Photos of the Day 2011

[Charlie]

Love those "nature" shots, Darren. You know what they call insects on hibiscus flowers at hibiscus shows? Livestock!

Charlie

[Louis]

Lou, you know the Jolander is actually Voodoo Magic, right? A commercial grower near me had about 200 Tsunami plants a couple of years ago. They all flopped badly as they matured and the colors faded quickly during the brightness and heat of a southern summer. Not my cuppa but it may do better if tended to carefully and in less intense conditions.

Charlie

hi charlie,

i am confused, as usual. did you mean that jolanda gommer is voodoo magic in disguise or are you talking about
tsunami.

lou

[Charlie]

Hey Lou,

I meant to say that the photo labeled Jolanda Gommer is a photo of Voodoo Magic.

Charlie

[Louis]

Hey Lou,

I meant to say that the photo labeled Jolanda Gommer is a photo of Voodoo Magic.

Charlie

good morning charlie, hope the move is going ok.

yes you are right, i miss-labeled VM as JG. My Bad. 

lou

[Louis]

Good Morning all,

a few from this morning. sun is getting stronger, can spring be far behind.

A very nice high voltage, its 9 inches in diameter, a most unusual Wild Grape

and a nice Illuminati, this is the first bloom since last fall. strange thing on this plant. it has 5 tall branches and i attempted to air layer them last october. i took off an inch of bark on each stem and placed rooting compound and wrapped in moss. they never did root, instead a callus grew to attach both ends of the bark and bypasses the cutting i did.

never have seen this.  its now blooming with the "bridges" connecting both ends of the cut branches.

BTW, i had a successful cross with wild grape with purple magic resulting in a dozen seeds. i planted half of them and they are now getting their first true leaves, should be interesting.

louis

[Yashodhara]

Very beautiful blooms, Louis... Wild Grape looks cute with freckles!

[Charlie]

Super blooms and photos, Lou! I like that High Voltage against the snowy background. Wild Grape getting all it's fancy coloration now for you. It's definitely one of the best of the 2010 seedlings. Crossing with Purple Magic might get bigger size in the flower, but at the risk of messing up what is now a very well behaved bush. OTOH, if all the best qualities of both combine, look out!

Interesting attempt with Illuminati. For those who are not familiar with air layering, it is a way to clone new plants from an existing plant. Sometimes it works better than standard rooting of cuttings but as Lou found out some of the hibiscus varieties can confound even the best strategies! Nice try, anyway.

Charlie