Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

Heres a little magic tonight :)
 

"Time for Magic"

love story

Chris, what do you think about Time For Magic? It will show a lot of different colors over time, much as 5th Dimension does.

Charlie

Hi Okianer,

Pretty Love Story flower! Is it a long lasting bloom for you? In our conditions they can last for several days.

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

TFM is really interesting imo, the only flowers I have gotten have been yellow with a green overcast and white eye.  My only complaint is that the peduncle are so long that the flowers have been hanging down.  I think this is due to the fact that the plant is still pretty young and the branches are not very sturdy.  It will be interesting to see how it matures and I cant wait to see the more orange and grey tones :)

RRG.  First bloom, Its hard to see but it has purple and white rings on the outside, much like torch song.  It also looks like RRG and TS are the same cross, so that makes a bit of sense. 

Another Rosalind and approaching the jungle look in the greenhouse.

Dave, very pretty Rosalind. I like it with that much yellow. All your plants look healthy and unstressed!

Below are a few recent photos from here.
1) Suede Buttons - colorful mini
2) Torch Song blooming on Cindy's 4 inch potted plant indoors
3) New first bloom from seedling Creme de Cacao x Gabriel
4) Matador bloom at sunset inside living room

Charlie

Charlie thanks for sharing :)  Torch song really does look alot like RRG, especially in that photo!  I like the new seedling, looks like it took after gabriel.  Always love seeing those new seedlings.

Bart sent me some fantastic photos of his potted Island Queen blooming in October in Kentucky - I'm posting one of them for him below.

Charlie

Great looking Island Queen Bart.  Here's the first bloom on Rainbow Sherbet a few months after some corrective prunning.

dave

thanks Dave,
 I love that RS and have considered adding to my, small but soon to increase, collection.  Charlie, thank you for post that for me. I have some nice plants blooming now and if I have figured out how to post them, should have them ready by weeks end. I am really happy about by new winter setup...I think. Nothing has died yet!

By-the-way, you can see I have some serious pruning to do. I have to read up on it just a little to make certain I get the right kind of growth I am looking for. I just got that IQ in June in a six inch pot.  I have some that have really grown well and are still blooming very aggressively.  I really hate cutting those blooms off but I know it has to be done and unfortunately,,,it's time,

Hi Bart,

Did your Island Queen drop many buds during the heat of summer. I'm getting some feedback that it might not be as bad as a lot of doubles in this department. How did it compare to your single flowered varieties?

Charlie

Charlie, It will be interesting to compare Bart's and my latest arrival of IQ, next year. I bought the 4" pot and will try to grow into a 6" pot by next spring. She looks good!
John

Yes, a good comparison is always worthwhile. I am partial to the Island Queen blooms, good color and size. I didn't keep enough stock plants to propagate from so it looks like we will only have a few dozen next year, about like this year. When will I learn!

Charlie

Oh yes, since this is the Blooms of the Day topic, attached below is a photo I took today of a first bloom on a seedling bush. The cross was Creme de Cacao x Midnight Blue. What is unusual about this bloom is the shade of red of the eye, it's most unusual. The body has that shimmer/shine that Midnight Flyer has, and the unique red eye makes quite a contrast. About 6" today. Not sure how well any of this came through on the photo but there will be more blooms soon.

Very cool pic Charlie!  It sounds like one of those that is best seen in person. :) 

Wild Dream bloomed for me today.  Small bloom around 5 inches, and it also opened a day or two earlier than I thought it would. 

nice to see WD Chris.

you should start getting big blooms once it gets older. Did you get a 4" or 6" I had big 7-8 inch blooms and they seem to want to last a little longer than my other hibiscus. maybe 2-3 days for me.

Hey Kerry,

It was a 4' plant when I got it, it is in a 6 inch pot now, grows kinda slow for me, but produces a bunch of buds:)  It was the first bloom, so I am sure they will get bigger as the plant matures.  I like the first bloom alot.  How is yours doing?

It is doing ok. I pruned it and it only had two big leaves. Right now its producing new ones. One part that I prune is growing two new branches so I should be getting new blooms soon.

Hi Chris,

It's good to hear that you are getting some blooms after the "hot car" setback when you moved.

I saw on the news that it snowed in Denver the other day. I hope you and yours are staying warm!

Charlie

Lol yah it did.  In fact when I took those pictures it was snowing outside lol.  They are doing well, LL is budding up and so is burnished gold and Rosalind, so I think they are pretty happy.  Still waiting for Saffron to bud up, but I am hopeful :)  I look forward to seeing more pictures.

Black dragon bloomed  :D

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/BD2.jpg)

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

Black Dragon will show many looks during the year. I like these deep burgundy colors, not much white swirl in current conditions but still good color. Thanks for showing.

Charlie

Fall is well know as a time when a lot of hibiscus give a final, glorious show before hunkering down for winter. Our outdoor garden has been ablaze with color the last couple of weeks - a few example of bushes that start blooming profusely are below:

Cinnamon Girl - doing what she is famous for by opening 7 blooms at once
Rosalind - blooming profusely under a big pepper tree
Silver Dragon - 3 blooms open, but one mostly eaten by a rabbit
Night Fever -  a unique, reddish purple colored flower blooming low to the ground

Anybody else getting blooms they want to share?

Charlie

Charlie those look great. Silver Dragon and Cinammon Girl are two more that I'd love to get if I can find any more space. I also love the color of Night Fever. How is the bush on that one? Rosalind is one of my favorites. I think it should be in every collection. I don't have anything new blooming so here are a couple of photos from yesterday of cultivars I've posted pics of before. Rosalind is back to single blooms in this cooler weather. This one is the largest I've had so far at 8 inches and is a different look from the summer blooms. This Blonde Ambition bloom is also the largest I've had at a full 10 inches. I'm getting buds on several new plants so hopefully I'll have some pics of those within a few days. We're expecting our first freeze tomorrow so the whole collection will be coming inside today, I hope. It's a lot larger than last winter. Several of the plants are much larger and I've added an additional dozen plants.

dave

Hi Dave,

Both those are beautiful versions of these varieties. The Rosalind is a neat variation of that cv. I agree that it should be in every collection of hibiscus. It is the one standout from the 100 or so varieties I imported from Australia a decade ago. Good bush, good bloomer, pretty flower.

You asked about Night Fever. The flower color is unique and pops out at you in real life. I haven't grown anything with quite that same color and don't really know what name to give to the color. The bush is why I stopped offering it. Although it is strong and vigorous it tends to make long sprawling stems. If a compact, orderly plant is desired this one is not going to do that. However, in our outdoor garden it is not a problem since it fits in well with natural look we are going for. Pruning and training could help make it a better potted plant. In any case, the stock plant was looking so nice this summer that I propagated it again and we should have this one available again next year.

I hope everything fits in you inside growing space!

Charlie

Thanks for the info on Night Fever Charlie. Its growth habit sounds too unruley for my limited space. Speaking of space problems I couldn't get the entire collection inside today so for now 9 of them will be spending time being moved back and forth between the laundry room and the unheated greenhouse. I'll try to have more on that later in the "Planning for winter" section of the forum. We've had an unusually strong, cold, and very early storm system move through today so we're expecting low temps around 30 for the next 3 mornings. I have 35 hibiscus jammed in front of 3 south facing windows inside but the sun is only low enough for the first row of them to get any direct sun. The light will be much better in a couple of weeks.

dave

First bloom on Bonnie Lass which was a 4" purchase in August.