January Flower Photos of the Day

[Louis]

First bloom of Bon Temps for me. I have had this plant since last fall and just as it was ready to bloom last summer, the deer had it for lunch. they ate it down to the base. however it came back stronger than before.

i did not realize that a leaf was blocking part of the bloom. next one will be sans shadows

louis

[davidwood]

Louis and Darren if you have looked in the World Gardens on this site there is a bit about me, there is also a picture of Kim An, she is my help in Vietnam and does all my shopping and gets me things because I cant speak the language. How she is going to react later when I tel her I want a bucket of worms is anybodies guess ha ha.

Anyway a nice Pochanontas today which I have brought indoors.

[Charlie]

Louis, sometimes we might think you are at a disadvantage growing hibiscus way up there in Connecticut but lots of hibiscus blooms do better with less intense sunlight. In our southern CA climate Bon Temps can be bleached almost white by a couple hours in the sun and the colors are never as deep and nice as yours show today. Same could be said for Creole Lady and quite a few others. As long as you have a heated place to put the plants in the winter you can have fantastic blooms in the northern states! Thanks for sharing all these.

Charlie

[Charlie]

David, love that pot of Pocahontas - classic!

Charlie

[farmer d]

Louis - I love the softer colors of the Bon Temps.  I have some twins that should be picture ready tomorrow, a sneak peak for tonight.  Mine have lost all pink during the winter and are warm yellow with orange blushy streaks.

David - that Pocahontas is remarkable.  Looks like some more blooms heading your way.  I regret not getting it back on 1/1 when avail.

Here's to the worms!

Farmer D

[Charlie]

Farmer D and all, nice Bon Temp blooms. It's striking the difference the seasons make. I went looking for a mid-summer bloom photo but did not find any. I did find an April bush and bloom photo that shows OK color before the full sun hit later in the year. Even so you can see the difference as compared to winter - lighter colors the more sun it gets for this variety. The attractive bush is also showing in this photo.

Charlie

[Charlie]

I missed the last half of P6 of this thread - some good stuff there!

Chris, I'm so glad to hear that you did not lose any plants to the surprise cold snap. You've had more than your share of environmental crisis moving around the country the way you have the last couple of years. As Cindy likes to point out, Supernova was originally formulated as an anti-cold stress product for farmers. It does seem to help. Oh yeah - those Robin Hood photos rock! We may have to borrow one for the store.

Farmer D, thanks for sharing your earthworm strategy. That's an excellent idea and no doubt helps the hibiscus in ways we don't fully realize as well as ways we do understand. I wondered if you would see the buds open on Bridal Path in this colder weather we've been having. Great colors after you helped them through the final opening. In summer they will be very large flowers. You seem to have an excellent location for hibiscus and are making the most of it, too. I would wager that your outdoor hibiscus garden is one of very few in the entire continental USA that is still blooming right now.

Lou, I'm sure it is a relief to get rid of those pesky gnats, and doing it without chemicals is very satisfying.

Charlie

[farmer d]

Here is a quick time progression of my Bon Temps blooms from July - Current.  You can easily see the effects of the seasons

We got lucky here in LA this summer as it stayed very cool all the way till end of Sept so the colors on these blooms were rather vibrant.

Farmer D

[farmer d]

Seasonal timeline continued....

[Charlie]

Thanks for the progression. Bon Temps is quite variable. The inner zone of color, more or less pink in summer, turns into a darker color and shrinks in size. The yellow is really brought out. None of that was predictable based on the behavior of most other hibiscus flowers where the general rule is that oranges and purples are more accentuated during cooler weather.

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Charlie, knock on wood that I dont lose any, I really think adding two grow lights to my growing area really helped out alot.  It gives them an additional 5 hours a light, and it does seem to make a difference. 

Feel free to use those pics, very orange and ruffly blooms on Robin Hood!

Really liking those pics of Bon Temps!  It makes me want to get "Compassion" even more

[Charlie]

Chris, our first web  master lived in Sweden and she reported that even a small increase in artificial light helped her indoor hibiscus.

And I agree that 'Compassion' is a good addition to any life.
 

Charlie

Compassion below.

[Darkhorse]

With the days being overcast here in the valley most of the time, some of my cvs weren't doing so well.  Namely my Heartbreak Hotel and Island Girl.  I def. don't want to lose either of these so I did an experiment and set up two small end table lamps without shades and stuck the plants in the middle of them.  The lamps have those energy saving florescent bulbs in them and I leave them on 24/7.  Not only have the plants begun to recover, they are actually growing rapidly now.  HBH even has buds!  A small change really does make a big difference.  There hasn't been a big increase on my electric bill either.

[Louis]

Hi all,

a few from today. outside temp never got over 10 degrees today. if not for the greenhouse, i might have gone mad.  

Charlie, take note. the plant that i have labeled as Black Knight bloomed today for the first time. i don't think it is the real thing, it has a dark throat. if not, who do you think it is.

there are two photos, a close up and the entire plant.

also a nice shot of wild grape. i cannot get the intense color that others have, nevertheless, i really like it. makes lots of pollen. i have several pods maturing from various crosses.


and i wanted to share a snow scene for those of us who live in the warm clime. hopefully this will make you feel a tad bit sorry for us. this is a 3 foot snowfall from this week. to the right is an 6 foot drift that will not thaw till may  
louis

[helixturnhelix]

Wow Louis!  Your indoor garden is really nice

Charlie, love that compassion, any other photos of it? 

Jordan, its pretty interesting the difference that light makes!

Check out what a big difference it makes!  Vin and Sea of Tranquility in photo 1, Heaven's Scent, Cindy's Heart and Raku in photo 2, all happily soaking up the light.