Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

Surprisingly my African Princess survived a bit of a shipping ordeal and has been trying to flower for the last week or so.  All the blooms have only cupped and the edges of the petals of are thin and curl.  Has anyone had this experience with African Princess?  I really like the colors, so I hope that it isnt one that has some flower opening problems like Bright Horizons under certain conditions. 

Chris, my African Princess doesn't exhibit the same cupping and curling that I get on Bright Horizon. I'll try to post some photos in the next day or two. Both AP and BH plants are in full sun all day with a direct southern exposure. In fact they are only a few feet apart.

That would be great Erny!  I am going to give it a bit more time and see if it starts behaving normally.  There sure are alot of buds on this one which is exciting :)

I don't have African Princess so can't comment on bloom opening problems with it, but I've just about had it with Bright Horizon.  It doesn't matter whether it's warm, cool, humid, dry, in full sun, dappled shade, in the greenhouse or in the house under T5s, its blooms are always small and cupped.  I've never seen one decent bloom on it.  Too bad, it's such a beautiful bush. It's headed for the compost bin.

dave

I hear your dave, thats the nice thing about the forum is Charlie can see how his CVs perform outside the greenhouse. 

I had a pair of twins on AP today, ugh again had to open them by hand and they dont look like great.  The color is so fantastic and there are so many buds, it is really disappointing that it seems to not want to open blooms.  Any ideas as to why they are doing this Charlie? 

Chris, I got one African Princess bloom today and here are photos in full sun and shade. This is pretty typical for the blooms I get with it. They are slow openers but are usually completely open (but not completely flat) by mid to late afternoon. The petals are fairly thick and I don't see much curling. My plant is in full sun all day.

I'm sorry to hear that you and Dave don't get good blooms on Bright Horizon in your respective environments. My blooms are a little cupped but are usually fully open by the end of the first day or the start of the second. The vivid contrasting colors are always in an attractive pattern and thus it is one of my favorites. I have it in full sun southern exposure all day here in southern California.

Erny

Thanks Erny for these pics.  I will keep watching AP a bit longer and if she doesnt behave, I will just have to replace her with something else.  Maybe Chai Tea would be a good candidate for that :)

Darren and I were quite impressed with Chai Tea when we saw it in the greenhouse.I think "elegant" is an apt description of its blooms.

Nice Erny!

I remember seeing one of your Chai tea blooms earlier?

Yes I ordered one right after we saw it in the greenhouse.