Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

So, here are the promised photos of most of my collection, along with a couple close-ups of the blooms.  Enjoy!

Jordan

first photo, from left: Creole Lady, Swamp Music, Saffron; on the a/c is Acapulco Gold, the "stick" is Black Dream, in the blue pot is Island Girl, and the little black container is Belle du Jour

picture 2, from left:  Fiery Furnace, Living Legend, Devil's Eye, Night Runner, Blueberry Thrill, back to Creole Lady; in the left foreground is Medicine Man; orange kitty is Hazel :)  she loves hibiscus for different reasons... apparently they taste good

from left: 5th dimension, voodoo magic, silver memories, chariots of fire; I love this silver memories bloom

Devil's Eye, still opening, and Persian Rug (sorry the color isn't too great on that one)

Didn't get my little Gator Pride or my Delta Dawn in the photos, and I have a Blackjack, Heavy Metal, and Cinnamon Girl on the way!! :)

Your balcony is much bigger than mine !  nice collection.
How do you like Persian rug and Devil's eye ?

So far this is only my 2nd Persian Rug bloom and my first Devil's Eye bloom.  As far as their bushes go, they both seem to be full, and the foliage is really beautiful on both of the cvs.  I have Devil's Eye in full sun and Persian Rug in morning sun/afternoon shade.  Devil's Eye seems to be a slower grower, and Persian Rug seems to be about average.  Both are now loaded with buds and I'll get a lot more blooms out of them by late summer I hope.

The blooms so far on Persian Rug have been somewhat disappointing.  Although they're still beautiful, the colors are a lot softer than what I've seen advertised, and I have yet to get that cool "splotching" effect.  Devil's Eye, from this one bloom, looks awesome.  Really splashy colors just like the advert. photo.  I will post more pix of blooms as they open so you can see what their regular look is like... at least in my conditions.

A very nice and promising collection!

Well this is half of my collection.  I had to use my mac camera so I apologize if the pics arent that good

From left to right: Acapulco Gold,  Cinnamon Girl, Illuminati, Blue Ballerina. 

Very nice. It's so neat to see the hibs growing in all the many locations around the world.

Nina, can we see your plants growing in their locations this summer?

My new camera just arrived after my old one died so I'm able to take photos again. Flower photography is a whole other aspect of growing hibiscus that I find adds another satisfying dimension to it. The flowers are so ephemeral - her today, gone tomorrow - and capturing a bush in full bloom or a specially bright flower preserves those moments for enjoying again and again. Like that Living Legend with almost a dozen blooms on it that I showed the other day. I had completely forgotten about that until I went looking for photos of Living Legend.

Anyway, this thread is a good idea and I hope we see a lot of posts here.

Charlie

I took a bunch of photos yesterday, so nice to be back to capturing flower images again! This forum only allows 2 per post so here is one of a new cv available next year named Cosmic Gold - 5 open blooms on the bush yesterday! The other is Blue President that is President x Renaissance Blue, an unusual cv because the garden variety did not dominate the exotic which is the normal result of such a cross.

Charlie

Those are gorgeous Charlie, but this isn't fair.  I'm out of space for more plants.  LOL

Dave

Wow Cosmic Gold is really pretty!  I would love to see more bush pictures :)

Yeah, Cosmic Gold looks great.  Who are its parents?


I love to see more and more photos... they make my day.  :)

Here is a part of my collection. A jungle at this moment.

Cindy and I love the jungle look, Nina. All the plants looks very healthy and like they are growing well. This is inside the greenhouse, I think. Didn't you say you are also growing some varieties outside the greenhouse this summer? Is there a big difference?

Charlie

Darkhorse, Cosmic Gold is Simple Pleasures x Blonde Ambition. It is a 7 to 9 inch flower, good substance to the petals. I particularly like the form with all the tufts.

Another photo I took yesterday is of Braveheart, a new cv that is Fifth Dimension x Muffin Man. I really like the few crosses of Fifth Dimension that do not fade such as Heavy Metal and Braveheart. They usually are better than average bloomers like 5th Dimension. This photo is of 3 plants growing together but yesterday all had at least 3 open blooms. The bright midday sun washed out some of the color in the photo but the abundance of blooms made it photo worthy. This flower is typically 7".

Charlie

Braveheart and Cosmic Gold are both very pretty.  I love seeing the new varieties each year.  Am going to have to make more space by Jan.  :P

Kerry, (and all) here are some photos of my Persian Rug.  She bloomed x3 today, and I was able to catch her during opening.  The blooms are a little smaller than the last 2, maybe 5" or so, but the colors are better and they all have a little bit of the splotching around the edges.  I think the foliage on this cv is great.

Jordan

Persian Rug's bush

Hi, Charlie,

Yes, I have put some of them outside. The difference is very big: the majority of the plants in the greenhouse are much nicer, growing faster, blooming better. Outside plants have sparser leaves, less blooms, they do not look so beautiful and lush. Their leaves are harder, strong to support wind and the elements. Some, however, do bloom outside and they did not bloom inside last year, like Eye of the Storm, Topanga. But in fact I cannot make the real comparison because I put outside the less beautiful plants, or the plants that last year had problems in the greenhouse.

Brave heart is one that I put on my wish list right away.  I saw them on the to be released part of your cv list, along with Maid of honor, vin extrodinaire and Zuluu warrior.  I can't wait for them to be released!  I am saving room for those four, not to mention any unlisted cvs that will be released.  I really need a green house :D

I also must say that your jungle is quite spectacular :)

Hi Nina,

There's a reason for the popularity of greenhouses and your experience shows why that is. Congrats on staying with it long enough to have good success!

Charlie

Hi Darkhorse,

The Persian Rug sure has a nice bush. Good job growing it! Honestly I had written that cv off as too similar to Gator Pride but not as bright in color but the bush seems to be an improvement that would make it worth growing. Thanks for showing it to us.

Charlie

Braveheart is very pretty ! thanks for sharing the photos

Hey Jordon , I can see why you are kind of disappointed in persian rugs color.  It will probably get more white spots/splashes as it gets hotter. Every one is ranting and raving about this CV because its a good seed setter.

I might not get this CV now since it does not keep the white splashes all the time. Maybe i will get one later.

I am still trying to find who are the parents of this CV

Hey Charlie,

   I didn't think about that...  it is very similar to Gator Pride colorwise.  It is supposed to be a really good seed setter too, though.  I'm not sure how well Gator Pride sets seed.  I bought the Persian Rug for its splotching, and of course now it's barely showing on my plant.  :P  I do think it has a great bush; combining that with its love for shade and my plan for it is to make it a houseplant.


Kerry,

    Yeah, I'm hoping for more white when it gets hotter...  I've been looking for its parents too.  Another thing is the flowers fade pretty bad, so on day 2 they're very pastel looking.  Oh well, They're still pretty enough for me to keep and hopefully I can get some good seeds out of her.


J 

Thanks for the Info Jordan , I will probably hold off on this cv like I said. It is pretty thought I like my gator pride it stays dark on the second day. I will see if I can get the parents today for you.

Here is the second bloom of lady bug
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/Dogshow015.jpg)

Charlie , I forgot to say I will have a surprise for you soon  ;)

It should be here this week  ;D

I love surprises! Bring it on when it's ready........ :)

Somebody asked if Gator Pride sets seed. It does, and I have made a lot of crosses with it. However, it is a fairly small flower and so far most of the offspring have been small, too. I expect to see some neat colors from these as the summer progresses.

Charlie

Jordan Persian Rug's Parents are Glamor Shot x Barry Schlueter

Wow, Persian Rug looks nothing like Glamour Shot.  Maybe that where it got its bush from, though. 

Here are two photos of my Fiery Furnace's first open bud; it had been dropping buds like crazy-- I think due to our sudden heat spell-- but has calmed down since it cooled off to the upper 70s low 80s.  These are the blooms opening colors (yest. morning).  By the end of day one all the orange had faded away, but the nice texture survived until the bloom closed tonight.

I like the opening colors, but from what I have learned is it fades pretty badly in the sun, so you end up with a grayish flower for most of the day.  I think "island girl" has very similar colors, but doesnt fade much. 

My bloom of the day

Fantasy Charm?

That is Belle du Jour!  My favorite pink :)

A few more of my Favorites

Nice blooms Chris

Here are some of mine from last week
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v5/p152510366-4.jpg)
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p97170103-4.jpg)
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v0/p67602577-4.jpg)
up close picture of gator pride petals
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p499713999-4.jpg)

Aha, my next guess.  My Belle hasn't bloomed yet, but I'm looking forward to it!

WOW, great pictures you guys!  Kerry, is that Nightfire?

Yes it is Nightfire

Do you like it?  I was thinking of adding Nightfire to my 'list.'  hehe

Well That is its first bloom , it only lasted a day but I have not fertilzed this plant , I gave it some last week. So I will let you know how it blooms next time. The bush is upright and I love the big green foliage!

Has delta dawn bloom for you ? I can not find any picture of it other than the stock picture from dupont nursery.

I haven't gotten a bloom yet from Delta Dawn.  I bought it a few months ago as a 4" plant.  It has a few buds developing, so I'm ready and waiting for it.  It has a good bush and branches naturally, and I like the foliage.  I will take some photos later today of its bush.  Oh yeah, and it grows FAST.

Yah I really like Belle, she blooms pretty constantly, but for me grows very slowly.  Its probably because she allocates all her energy to bloom :D.  I guessed it was either nightfire or midnight blue.  I really like both those blooms, but I am really starting to run out of room.  Im saving space for all the ones on my wait list, and burnished gold, if I can find one.   

Kerry, those blooms are great. I love the Nightfire, I have nothing else like it and it is at the top of my wish list which just keeps growing. I also am about out of space.

Here's a few of mine that I grouped on the patio for a photo: Gwen Mary, Pina Colada, High Voltage, Cherry Appaloosa, and a mislabeled one that for now Charlie and I think is Happy Days.

dave

Beautiful you plants look so healthy compared to mine !

Wow Dave, they look so healthy!  Are these plants from this "shipping season" or from a few years back?

Thank you for the compliments on my plants. I do have a few that aren't doing very well and I really need to get a better handle on pinching and prunning. I'm still basically in learning mode on their care.

 Kerry, your plants look great to me. There have been so many wonderful pictures posted on this forum and a few have led to additions to my wish list.

High Voltage was purchased in the spring of 2007. It was part of my first order from HVH. The others are from various orders in 2008 when I kinda went crazy as the addiction seemed to take over. LOL   All were 4" size pot purchases with the exception of the Cherry Appaloosa which was one of my rare 6" pot purchases. Strangely it is still in a 6" pot while the others have needed to be moved to 8" and 10" pots. Cindy told me it was a very slow starter.  Pina Colada along with Acapulco Gold are my two fastest growers. They have gotten tall very quickly and have gone from 4" pots to 10" in less than a year.

Dave

Dave,

Your plants are beautiful!

Thanks Nina. I really admired the photo of your collection in the greenhouse posted on July 5th.  I also love that jungle look.  Could you identify some of those cultivars?

dave

Hi Dave,

I must admit that Acapulco gold is a really fast grower!  I just pruned mine for the second time this year, and it is still almost double the size of blue ballernia.  Its good to know that pina colada is also a fast grower because I really like that CV alot and find that the 4" pot size are my favorite, so its encouraging that it can grow from that size to the size in your picture in a few months.  Living Legend also seems to be a fast grower.  It already put on about 2 inches of growth in a month.  I look forward to seeing some more pictures :D

well my leaves are not shiny  :( this is why I think you plants look better :D

my shipment came today Wild dream, cinnamon girl and dragon's heart. Cinnamon girl is filled with buds !   
Here is a picture of my balcony again ( no room) My bf is going to  build me a stand next week ! ( ps he does not know I been buying hibiscus so I need to figure out a way to hide them hahahah
I am also going to be getting some more seeds ! what am I getting my self into !

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10165.jpg)

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10166.jpg)

Nice Porch Kerry :)  I can wait to see your Wild Dream Bloom.

My Cinnamon Girl and Blue Ballerina

My cinnamon girl bloomed today also

(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p183303306-4.jpg)

Oh, Helix,  Cinnamon Girl is so floriferous.  What a beautiful small bush! Maybe...I can put it...on my neverending list.

Hi Nina, i couldn't believe how many blooms were on the small bush and it was two days of of the box!  My favorite thing so far about this cv besides the fact that it opened five blooms two days after I got it is how different the blooms look in the shade vs sunlight.  In the sunlight the orange is highlighted and makes the whole bloom look orange and yellow.  In the shade the flowers look like an orange bloom with shaded brown edges.  If you don't have it, im sure you could find some room for one :P

Kerry, that picture of Cinnamon girl is really nice.  I like how the colors blend together. 

I agree Cinnamon girl is a very nice CV

here is another picture
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v0/p353092796-4.jpg)

Here is rocket's red glare ( my first bloom of it )
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p263096992-4.jpg)

Such great photos everyone is posting!

Just a reminder that as the forum postings grow it can be hard to find a particular item or variety. The search function up above is great for finding these things if you ever want to find something specific.

Charlie

Awesome Rocket's Red Glare!  Mine is budding up so hopefully I will some blooms soon. 

Saffron attached

Cinnamon Girl and Rocket's Red Glare are two more just added to my extended wish list. Those are beautiful.

First love bloomed with some cool striping today/splash of pink color.  Anyone else get this effect in the summer?

Today... a vivid Island Girl...

...and my Cinnamon Girl plant continues to impress me!  It opens at least one bloom per day.  I think it's the best bloomer I have so far.

And this is the reason I haven't been on much lately:

I pulled her out of a storm drain last Wednesday night.

how CUTE!

Awww thats a good reason to be gone.

I must admit I really love Cinnamon girl, big bloomer is an understatement, blooms as much as brilliant!

We had great fun yesterday with lots of interesting people stopping by. I forgot to keep the camera handy so did not get any shots until after it was all over, but then did take some of the bloom table and porch area where a lot of flowers were on display.

The first of these shows an unnamed seedling that surprised me with 6 open blooms the morning of the Open House so I brought it over to show. Only 3 of the blooms are obvious in the photo but it had an impressive 6 on the bush. Sort of a nice dark purple flower, worth watching.

The others are of the porch and fountain area and just show a bunch of blooms gathered for display.

Charlie

Looks like it was a good one to go to.  Just looking at the bloom chart, it looks like you had a bunch of varieties available at this open house.  That seedling is pretty interesting, is that the original seedling or is it a clone all grown up?

The seedling is the original plant. I'm sure it must have bloomed a few times before but it got my attention this time with this many blooms. The difference between the original seedling plant and clones of it can be quite surprising. This plant is over 6 feet tall and quite lanky but cutting grown plants of it may be quite different. This week I will take cuttings from it and see it they root.

Charlie

It will be interesting to see how the cuttings compare to the original!  Do you usually keep all the original seedlings of ur cvs or do you discard them once you have healthy wood stock going? 

That is a nice cv Charlie ,

I want to go to an open house also but if I go I want to stay in SD the whole weekend so I am trying to plan something out.

Next week I should have these Cv's

antique rose ( if I am lucky )
Stormy rainbow
black dragon
Simple pleasures
some like it hot

Nice list of cvs,  I am assuming you have a nice plant stand to put them all on?  I need to see a pic of your porch once you get those cvs in the mail :P

Haha no stand yet I am begging bf to make it this week  :D I still have my ghetto fab rubbermaid bins

I added cranberry muffin to the list Passion play also

I just bought 7 more plants... yikes...

I had a little photo shoot with two blooms  :D

(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v2/p694035735-5.jpg)

(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p1066223648-5.jpg)

(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p636539373-5.jpg)

(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p750778416-5.jpg)

then a full shots of Cinnamon girl

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10308.jpg)

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10310.jpg)

Jordan: Oh man, 7!  Which ones you end up getting?  I got away with just two this time :P

Kerry:  Those pics are awesome!  What camera do you use?  I think I might have stumbled upon some pictures you took of your Zoos yesterday on another forum, reef2reef.com and have been trying to figure out how to take nice tank pics with my bros D60.  Any suggestions?  Anyways great flower pics!

I got two also yes Jordan you must tell us which Cv's you got I have 3 more coming next week ! stormy rainbow, black dragon and maybe antique rose

I have a canon 20D , Lens is sigma 105 macro lens.  for the aquarium photos i use kinko extension tubes with the sigma lens. Yes I am on reef2reef , nano-reef.com and reef central my screen name is roxy25 I think for all three forums.  I am also on the canon forum under kerrysroxy

For tank pictures you need a tripod, and you need to turn off flow ( powerheads)  I use Manual settings all of the time because ( I am a photographer lol) but you can use the auto settings to help you out if your just learning. I am not familiar with Nikkons I am a canon girl so Look for Aperture priority in the nikkon manual or selection dial ( I never looked at nikkons so I am not sure what they use ) But anyways start there . I use my timer also for my camera because the exposures are usually longer. Set ISO to 100 for the best clarity no noise should be present with an ISO of 100.

What type of aquarium pictures are you trying to take ? FTS ( full tank shots ) or macro ?

Check out my zenfolio
http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/p292060947

I am new to using photoshop So its been a while since I started shooting again , I need to buy a CS4 Book

Hi Kerry

I was interested in taking a few full tank shots, and maybe some macros of the fish.  I only have FW at this time so there aren't too many interesting things that you can macro of.  When I had my nano reef I also had a bunch of Zoos, but man they are not as awesome as yours!  The blue ones are so blue, mine were more a powder blue.  The green clove polyps are amazing too!  I might have to beg you for some frags when I get my nano started again :)

Where were you able to score the Odontanthias borbonius ?  That fish is awesome, they only place I've seen that one is at AOP in the deep reef tank.  I think there were also a few Nemateleotris helfrichi in there and those are really cool fish too. 

Well anyways thanks for the specs, I will definitely try them out and see how they work!

Thanks for the complements Chris sadly I have barely any more zoas I had a nudi out break !  I decided to call it quits for a while I am selling my tank , and will start up another time. I can tell you where to get the nice zoas at ( my friends ) I also go to the wholesaler  ;)

As for the fish all of the sps , acan , and fish pictures are from my friends aquarium shop in OC AKA Ali. http://amazingaquariumsandreefs.com/ He is the king of rare exotic fish and zoas he knows his stuff very well ( well not the zoas lol I school him on those ) but he knows acans, sps and fish. He gets the Odontanthias borbonius a lot ,

I only have the tail spot blenny.

If you visit tell him Kerry sent you .  Also go to Vivid aquariums http://vividaquariums.com/ I know Dave but he is not a friend friend.  He has nice stuff also a lot of rare stuff. Tell him Kerry sent you from reef central.

The last person that has great stuff is my friend Paul @ http://www.fantasticfrags.com/Fantastic_Frags/Home.html

I get a lot of stuff from him too , I will probably get all of the zoas that I lost back from him. 

Thanks Kerry!

Too bad your taking a break, I guess one addiction leads to another :P  I think even buying a bunch of hibiscus plants is cheaper than reefing.  Hmmm I can get about for 6 inchers including shipping for the price of a nice sized acro colony, so I think this is defiantly more economical :P  I am going to check those places out, and window shop, haha

My blooms of the day :)

Space Oddity and First Love

Nice pictures Kerry!  I'm going to get myself a good camera one of these days.  Right now I just have an old hand me down Sony digital from when digital cameras first came out.  It does ok, though, better than my phone!

The Space Oddity looks great Chris!  I cut mine way back, but can't wait until it starts branching and blooming again.


Yah, I went a little nutso this time, especially considering that I've already run out of space, like, a few months ago.  Ha.  My new additions:

Blue Ballerina
Sunkissed Blonde
Buttercup
Allure
Valentine's Day
Purple Magic
Butter Pecan

I'm so stoked, I just got three of them today and I'll get three more tomorrow!  I missed out on Acadian Spring and Moonstruck this time, but I guess that's good considering... haha. 
I finally found a Butter Pecan on some obscure site... I know nothing about its bush or blooming habit but we'll see. 

Hmmmm I need to look up what butter pecan looks like.  Heres the same space oddity bloom after its faded.  Still very attractive imo. 

What does stormy rainbow look like?

Hi, Nievesgirl,

A beautiful photo of Heartbreak Hotel and another bloom on the blue background!

Beware the photoshopped photos, me lassies!

Here are some au natural photos direct from camera with no adjustments except for size and cropping. They are from the garden in full sun so there are too many dark shadows but the flowers show well anyway. This garden had very few flowers in it 3 weeks ago but after 2 sprayings for thrips it has burst into bloom. There were a lot more today but these are of garden standouts Saffron, High Voltage, Living Legend, Acapulco Gold, and the shady stairs down to the garden.

Charlie

I don't see anything wrong with using photoshop , I can see if you make exaggerate or make the colors more insane ( see ridiculous photos on ebay ) But Touching up the photo for clarity , sharpness, and the RIGHT colors I think its fine.  :D

Nice Garden ! I hope I can get into a house soon I want to grow my plants in bigger pots.

Well, I'm using "photoshopped" as a euphemism for "altered to enhance bloom appearance for egoistic or commercial gain." You will see what I mean by and by. I totally agree that there is a place for software that corrects distortions or flaws in the original image, or even for use as a creative tool as long as the user is not trying to deceive.

Charlie

Oh I just changed the exposure.  Nice bush pictures charlie!  Its great to see what the bush shape looks like.

Nice photos Charlie!!  It's good to see them totally unenhanced.  I'm even more anxious to see my Living Legend bloom now. 

I wish I lived in socal so I could have my hibs outside year-round!  I need to get down there for an open house one of these days.

So I played with your pics :P

Hi, Charlie,

Really impressive bushes of LL, High Voltage, and Safron. Wonderful! I MUST make my LL to be like that!

Acapulco Gold, shame on you, do something about it!

ciao, Nina

You underexposed them too much , I messed with his pictures also because some where overexposed but all I did was do auto color and sharpen and they look nice and natural  ;)

Kerry, you are right. I discovered this morning that I had accidentally knocked the control on top of the camera onto one of those preprogrammed settings and it messed up the exposure on several pics I did yesterday. I thought my new camera was doing a better job with light until I saw those, but now I know why and have fixed it.

Charlie

Aww geez, still learning the software :)