Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

My shipment arrived last Thursday, and were planted on Friday.  Already blooming Valentines Day and Hot Pepper!
John

Already Bloomed, PineApple Sundae!
John

John, I'm really looking forward to seeing how this year's varieties do in hot Central TX. With all the careful attention you paid to the care of your Bridal Path plants last year, I am expecting good results again this year!

Charlie

Charlie, This weekend will be the real test we are expecting 4 days with the temperatures over 100 deg.!
John

Oh man!  hot hot hot!  If memory serves, Valentines Day did very well for me during those triple digit summers!  But my summers were dry and hot, with the humidity in texas you may have some better results!

John your photo's have become a bit of an inspiration for me.I have a Vietnamese friend in Allen Texas and she says its hotter there than it is here,so once i get over all the mistakes i have made[over watered and over fed] there is no reason why my blooms should not be as good as yours.

Silly Illuminati... you don't really have a bush, but this was a WOW bloom for me :)

Lots of yellow in that Illuminati, more than I'm used to seeing. Knowing how sensitive hibiscus flowers are to conditions, I'm betting that you will have some unique blooms and colors in the rarified air of high altitude in Colorado this summer.

Charlie

Hi All, Prolific blooming of my week old shipment from HVH
Enjoy,
John

John, you had a very pink day!  You have some good varieties there.  I need to get another Belle... 

Heavy Metal this morning, a little reflexed.  Will probably flatten out later but again FANTASTIC color.

Anyone think those look like thrip scratch marks in picture #2?  A large bud had yellowed a fallen off yesterday. 

Uh oh Spinosad time!

My Silver Dragon is actually First Love.  This bloom really pops!  Bright neon pink!  The same exact color of pink highlighter

Charlie, it will be interesting to see how the erratic weather changes bloom colors.  My HC has shown some really cool blooms and this bloom on First love is alot brighter than the blooms back in so cal, which were more pastel pink.  

My plants are always slow out of the gate so I was really pleased with my Saffron today.

Ian

Chris, I barely recognize that First Love. Talk about bright pink! As you said, she's a soft medium pink her we in Southern CA. It's going to be an interesting summer!

Charlie

John, I see that the first touch of TX weather has not adversely affected these guys. We chose your varieties this year believing they were ones that would stand up to the heat - at least they're off to a good start.

Jordan, I do believe those are scratch marks from thrips. They could have happened at any stage of the bud development so you should also look for live thrips running around the very center of the open blooms. You can also try tapping the bloom while it is held over a white sheet of paper and the thrips that fall out of the bloom and land on the paper are then easy to see since they are quite dark. I would treat with spinosad whether you see any or not just to be sure. It's a mild pesticide, certified for use on organic produce, but effective against thrips all the same.

Charlie

I am on the waiting list for this and cant wait,it looks wondefull.

Charlie, Heaven Scent is now starting to bud up, a beautiful plant, I expect it to flower later in the month as we expected. Belle de Jour is a two day bloomer!, as is Valentines Day.  I have been watering from the bottom up and then top down, already started my Spinosad program, can't be too cautious! Temp yesterday was 99 deg.  I  have three blooms at one time on Chariots of Fire, not bad for having been repotted only last week.

Now that Orthenex (spelling) is no longer available in the spray cans, I have swiched to Bonide's Systemic Insect Killer with Acephate 9.4% to alternate with Spinosad. what do you think?
John

Will take care of thrips on Monday, or maybe even this evening when I get home.  I think my Voodoo Magic has them too, as it dropped a big bud overnight.  Also, I did see a little pencil mark looking creature running around in my flower.  From what I remember last year, thrips are easy to treat.



Heartbreak Hotel and It's A Wonderful Life arrived yesterday!!!!   ;D

John, I'm so glad to hear that things are working out well so far. As for the Bonide acephate, that's a great one for using from time to time to prevent thrips becoming resistant to spinosad. I can't get it here from my distributor, must be a California thing (most overregulated state in the country), but it's very effective against thrips. I would use spinosad twice followed by one treatment of acephate over a 2 week time period if thrips are doing damage.

Charlie

Charlie would a good alternative method for spraying thrips be spraying 2x with Spinosad followed by 1x with Ortho Rosepride Insect, Disease, and Mite Control?  I believe we talked about Ortho Rosepride last year.  I got it in a spray can from Home Depot... it has acephate in it but only .25%.  It also apparently controls spider mites (it claims).

I don't know if you've used it yet but it's pretty harsh from what I remember using it once last year.  It's a product you definitely need a respirator to spray safely.

A quick question on thrips.I get bud drop on 2 of my cv's,but only 2,the othes  are all ok.Are thrips mobile like spider mites,or is the fact with all the others being ok its unlikely to be thrips.

David,

   Adult thrips are flies-- I believe-- so they can be mobile.  Try Charlie's test for thrips--  rip open a fallen bud and shake it over a white piece of paper.  It you see tiny little moving black creatures or yellow creatures you have thrips.  If your eyesight is good and there's a pretty decent infestation you can rip a fallen bud open and see them crawling around inside.  Thrips only cause the larger buds to fall off, so if tiny buds are dropping you have a different problem. 

Excellent day for blooms today!

Black Dragon, Creole Lady and It's a Wonderful Life bloomed for me!

Nice Pics Jordan!  It's a Wonderful Life is impressive, especially since if I remember they were 4" pots that were for sale!  I hope that we can see some blue in future blooms of that one! :D

Thanks Jordan,i just did as was suggested and i cant see nothing.I think the bud drop may be more due to the heat.I am going to move into a more shady area and see what happens.

Jordan, I'm glad you posed this question about acephate. The best way to use this wide spectrum insecticide is to just spray the tops of every stem and over any buds or flowers that are on the plant. You should not spray the entire plant and it is not necessary to spray up under the leaves for thrips control. This way you do not kill off the important beneficial predatory insects that may be on the lower parts of the plant but will get the thrips that are around the flower buds. The "harshness" you noticed will also be less stressful to the plant overall if you only spray over the tops of the stems and buds.

Acephate has a strong and unpleasant odor so is for outside use only. Since spinosad works so well against thrips the only reason to use acephate occasionally is to kill off any thrips that are becoming resistant to spinosad. I have first hand experience that this resistance will happen if you spray exclusively with spinosad in a greenhouse. It might not happen at all or not very quickly if used in an open garden but I would still alternate with acephate at least every 6th time when spraying for thrips. If you only need to treat for thrips a couple of times a summer you could just use spinosad and forget the acephate as long as it continues to be effective.

I don't know the other ingredients in the Rosepride product but it is doubtful that they provide much mite control. It's worth a try if mites are a problem but don't couint on full control from this product. Same with the Bayer 3-in-1 - it will help but is not usually a complete solution to a mite infestation.

Charlie

Charlie

John, yes thrips are mobile, much more so than mites. They can fly and can cover much larger distances than mites. As you know, high heat can cause bud drop in hibiscus that is unrelated to thrips. However, thrips also reproduce very rapidly in high heat and are often involved when temperatures are high. Since it can be hard to figure out if thrips are the cause I always go ahead and treat with spinosad so that I do not lose a lot of buds to them. Almost always less bud drop is the result, even in high temperatures.

For commercial growers the idea of "econonically significant" damage controls a lot of decisions about when to spray. It is impossible to get rid of all insects and is too costly to even attempt it. A small amount of insect damage is considered acceptable but we watch for the level at which that damage is about to become so bad that plants cannot be shipped and try to make sure treatments reduce the insects to the point where natural predators can keep them at low levels.

A similar idea can help you decide when to spray and when not to. Loss of a couple of buds is probably acceptable but loss of half the buds on your plants is probably not. Trying to prevent all loss of buds is going to be a challenge and will be time consuming and somewhat costly although spinosad is one of the cheaper pesticides.

Be sure that low water stress is not the cause of bud drop before assuming insects. Hibiscus watered in the morning can actually be in a drought situation and in distress by late afternoon. That happens before actual wilting of leaves is observed and can cause bud drop and lack of bud formation. This happens regularly with plants that have grown too large for their pots. A second watering is needed in that case or better yet transplant to a larger pot so that the water lasts from one watering to the next.

And, some bud drop is related to the specific variety. Doubles drop a lot more than singles, generally speaking. My observation has been that varieties that form very large buds before opening suffer from bud drop more than varieties that make smaller buds before opening. Final flower size is not involved. For example, Dragons Breath makes huge impressive buds that have often been reported to drop before opening in hot weather. Fantasy Charm makes relatively small buds (but huge flowers) that do not drop even in high temperature if watered well.

Please keep us updated about what you observe.

Charlie

Pretty flowers, Jordan! How big was the It's a Wonderful Life bloom? If not at least 8 inches you can expect it to grow larger. Also try feeling the texture of the flower -  it is nice and heavy which helps it hold good form when it maxes out the size.

Charlie

The IAWL was huge!  About 7 or 8 inches from my guess although I didn't measure it.  You're right about the texture.  It's just about perfect.  I do enjoy the more heavily textured flowers as compared to the thinner, flatter blooms.
 

I actually made myself late to work yesterday waiting for the 3 blooms to open all the way.  lol  Always good to have your priorities straight in life.......

95 degrees today!  So first love was showing her So Cal colors :)

Here are some photo's of what bloomed today, I tried crossing the 2 just to see if it would take, I think it would look neat if you could get the purple veins with the brown flower.

Patrick

Chris, very pretty First Love!  I like the photo where the bloom shows more white.  Is that the same flower throughout the day or 2 different blooms?



Patrick, Song Sung Blue and Blackjack?  Makes me miss my Blackjack.  :(

Two Different blooms!  Really interesting how different the temp made the blooms look. 

Patrick, almost anything is possible with that cross. I don't know if either sets seeds readily, perhaps you will let us know what happens with your crosses...

Charlie

It's A Wonderful Life today, twins!  Looks like 3 more will open tomorrow along with a Confection Perfection bloom.  One photo is from this morning and the other is from tonight. 

IAWL does have some of the most perfectly formed flowers I'm seen.  These were 7" and 8" across.  The IAWL is in my extra bedroom along with Heartbreak Hotel for quarantine, so I suspect blooms will get much bigger when it goes outside in the heat and light.  If you look closely you can see the pretty blue ring around the pink color in the middle.  :)

Jordan,if we had hibiscus shows in California, It's A Wonderful Life would win a few! Maybe we should start thinking about shows one of these days. Anybody interested?

Charlie

Awesome Jordan!  Makes me wish I got IAWL when it was available. 

If I was still in Cali, I think shows would be fun :)

Confection Perfection today.  This plant is just lovely everywhere.  Some of the prettiest foliage so I couldn't resist a bush photo.  My camera missed a little with the bloom color again.  I need to figure out how to take good photos...






Charlie, I think shows would be fun.  I know almost nothing about them, but I'd love to participate if given the chance.  :)  We need to start a new generation of hibiscus shows where the bush matters too.

Very nice Jordan.Nice also to see the bush,maybe its just me but i think a much better photo when you see more of the leaves.

Thanks David.  I agree that bush photos are some of my favorites.

Here is It's a Wonderful Life again today with 5 open blooms!!  Took a little bit longer to open than CP because it's indoors.  I need to prune it, which will be hard with all the buds it has developing. 

Whoa-is-me, those photos are gorgeous! As usual, Cindy is saying "ask her if I can use one on the web site". I get tired of asking, but...........

Very nice, Jordan.

Umm...maybe you should send that plant back.  Just kidding.  :D

I suppose I should add that there are several 4 inch pots of It's A Wonderful Life that will be available as of the next update. To get an email when that happens, put in a Waiting List request for this cv.

Charlie

Yeah, I don't know Charlie, I think I need a refund.....  lol





Of course Cindy can use a photo on the website!  Tell her any time I post a pic she's welcome to it.

CHARLIE.......THIS IS A PHOTO OF BRIDAL PATH.....ITS YELLOW  IS THAT NORMAL??

I missed those Confection Perfection photos. Such a unique bloom and such pretty photos!

I agree that if we start organizing some type of shows with competition we should figure out a way to feature the bushes, too. Shows could do with a re-thinking about how best to host a show so that it serves everyone as much as possible.

Charlie

Hmm, I haven't ever seen Bridal Path with as much yellow. However, I had never seen a yellow Saffron until I grew one on a shaded porch for awhile and the blooms changed from orange to yellow in that type of light. Where has this one been growing? How big are these blooms? Leaf photos can also help ID a variety.

Charlie

It gets about 3 hrs of morning sun......maybe to much shade...it is growing under a tree..I think i will try moving it so it will get more sun...thanks

Charlie, I do love my CP.  The color pink reminds me of cotton candy.


Curious, what do you mean about the re-thinking of shows so that they serve everyone?  Location-wise or experience-level-wise?  I have tons of horse show experience but flower shows are beyond me.   ::)

Chariots of fire.The Adenium at the rear and the yellow plants [dont know what they are called] left and right are there to try and give some shade as Cof F sits in the sun all day.Its just going dark now at 5.30pm and looks lovely.

Nice pics everyone

here are some of mine

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/P1010900.jpg)

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/P1010899.jpg)

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/snowstorm3.jpg)

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/snowstorm2.jpg)

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

Nice job Kerry! You are putting the rest of us to shame!
John

Wow Nice Blooms everyone!

Kerry, I really like the photo of Snowstorm's eye. That flower is shot through with snow everywhere! Blue Ballerina is looking nicely blue there, too. Cindy always comments that the red, white, and blue of Blue Ballerina give it a classy lassy look.

Charlie

WOW Kerry!  You need to start a how to topic on taking good flower photos.  Some of us could use some help.  :P  Is that Venetian Brick with BB?





Here are some photos I've taken the past 2 days.  Black Dragon bloomed yesterday, and Voodoo Magic today.  The VM is the richest colored VM bloom I've seen yet!  Again, the camera didn't pick up the color very well in either photo, but that's what I get with a hand-me-down.  Enjoy!

How nice your plants are Jordan!  It looks like all that trial and error over the last year has really paid off!

The continuing saga of growing Hibiscus in Texas.  Temps have been in the low 80's at night and high 90's during the day. My plants arrived the last week of May and here is the latest to bloom
John

so many beautiful photos....here are a couple of my recent blooms...charlie is key lime pie usually a one day bloom?

Nice Pics everyone!

Hot pink "First Love" triplets!

John, I'm glad to see that Love Story is not dropping buds so far. That is a double that I have hopes for in central TX heat. So far, so good. The other challenge that I think you are up for is to see if you can keep them all blooming for the whole summer. Of course most hibiscus bloom in waves but they should always have new buds forming even if there are no open blooms for a few days. My belief is that if you do not allow them to be set back by low water stress or insect stress they will bud up and bloom for you all summer. I admire the detail oriented way you go about growing them, and hope it pays of this summer with many blooms in an environment some experts would say is too harsh for good blooming. We shall see!

Charlie

Nice blooms everyone!  :)

here are some blooms from today,..confection perfection is gorgeous!!!

We called it Confection Perfection because it looked so yummy - good enough to eat! Thanks for sharing yours.

Charlie

She (Vin Extraordinaire) is the prettiest hibiscus ive ever seen :)  She is also crossed to First Love.

which one is that?...very pretty

Chris's 'Vin Extraordinaire' must like Colorado high country!  Beautiful photos, Chris. In the best of all worlds your cross would put this great flower on the strong and vigorous bush of First Love and root like First Love!

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

 I think she has been liking the weather well enough, though she dropped several microbuds on me, but pretty much all my new hibiscus do that.

I am hoping to get some pretty flowers on vigorous bush, I figure with president in its background, first love might just do it :)

Wow, Chris!  Lovely photos!  I bet Vin's color is even better in person.  Another one for my list!
 

These are blooms for yesterday.  Heavy Metal and Voodoo Magic in evening light-- I think that's why the color is off.  In contrast, IAWL bloomed for me in fours yesterday and the evening light inside brought out some good color in her. 


Cindy, I took another multi-bloom photo of IAWL for you.  Sorry about the background; we're remodeling hence the lack of carpet!  :P  It works well for watering though-- you don't have to worry about overflow!

Gah Jordan!  IAWL is amazing!  Bloom, bloom bloom is all she wants to do :)

I know, I love my IAWL!  Now I must work up the willpower to prune it!!



Heavy Metal yesterday.  :)

Wonderful photos, Jordan! I'm impressed with how well Its a Wonderful Life is blooming at your place.

Charlie

IAWL is just great, missed it again >.<

I still cant get over the colors of Vin.  She doesn't even look real!

Ageed, she looks extraordenarily beautiful.

Thanks, Charlie!  Curious, have you done any crossing w/ IAWL?  If so, does she set seed?






That does it Chris!  I have waitlisted Vin Extraordinare.  :P

Im glad you like the pics Jordan, your IAWL pics have been jaw dropping lol.  Here is what she looks like after being in the sun.

Jordan, thank you for the IAWL pics!!!!!  I WILL use them!  I'm so far behind on everything that I haven't even read anything in the forum for ages. Charlie has to tell me when I'm missing somthing. Now that school is out, I'll start catching up again.

Love Story in the Texas 100 deg heat, and has not lost a bud!  She gets plenty of water two to three times a day enjoy
John

Hi everybody, Last fall I got two Hibiscuis Rosa-Sinensis and managed to get them thru the winter. A first for me.  They were in 6" pots, and I put them outside April 1st.  Now it is time for their first blooms, and notice the size of the plants!  Must be that SuperNova.
Enjoy, John

John, I'm glad we seem to have found a couple of double flowered varieties that can handle the heat of central TX. I know it's still early in the summer but what you've seen so far bodes well. H rosa-sinensis has a particularly strong and bright red color - seems fitting that it was the first one named Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.

By the way, you haven't mentioned Magic Moments this year - did they perish over winter or ????

Charlie

Charlie :
Magic Moments: They did not make the journey, and I really wanted them too.  I will try them again with a different set of growing conditions. Next spring if I can get them April 1st, and give them time to adjust to Texas weather conditions along with partial shade they should make it.

John

N/p Cindy!  Anytime!  :)




Space Oddity this morning-- first bloom this year!  :)

C of Fire, In the Texas  HEAT!  This has been a proflic bloomer in the heat, but needs lots of water 2-3 times a day in a pot.
John

Dragon Heart, The flowers on this one have not been looking that great in my conditions.  Never fully open, small (4-5 inches) and light red, the edges start to darken after being in morning sun.  Maybe high altitude are conditions DH does not like.

Yuck, that's terrible! Dragon's Heart is so beautiful in milder weather, deep dark red to maroon red and good form, but it appears to be sensitive to different conditions in a way that I wish it weren't. We shipped a lot of them to Europe this year and that may be an excellent locale for that cv. Time will tell since we get a lot of feedback.

Charlie

DH seems to be a CV that is not suited for conditions where I am.  It is possible that there is too much sun for it, like parent DB, its buds are very dark and may absorb too much heat.  I had several turn yellow and fall off, at first I thought it might be thrips but I couldn't find any!  On the up side, it likes to send up alot of blooms, bud seem to keep on coming. 

maui masterpiece today 9 inches...wow

Aha! I think this is the first photo of Maui Masterpiece we've seen from someone on the forum. I'm glad yours came in full size. Expect a lot more blooms this summer, MM is a good steady bloomer here. Thanks for posting.

Charlie

That Maui Masterpiece is absolutely gorgeous. Now I wish I had ordered one. I agonized over it for quite a while and when I finally decided to place the order, it was out of stock again.  All I kept thinking was where in the world would I put it since I ran out of space at least 15 plants ago. Of course I ordered Cosmic Gold last night so I guess that really isn't a valid excuse. Won't miss it next time it's restocked.


dave

yes the flower is stunning...and I know what you mean..I ran out of room 15 plants ago also!

I guess a lot of us are in that run out of space club.   lol

dave

Hi everybody!  I am pleased to post one of my best efforts so far with trying to grow CV's year round. Ibought two Vodoo Magics last fall from HVH as 4" plants and somehow managed to get them thru the winter, and put them out April 1st. Today was the first bloom and I am thrilled!  Picsare from when I first got them till today Enjoy!

John

Dave ''ran out of space 15 plants ago'', classic, i think that will put a smile on everyone's face. We have all done that.  David.

Hi gang! Another first today!  I have always wanted a Heaven Scent, and got one this year,  arrived the end of May as a 6" plant and we did not expect it to bloom till sometime in July. Here are the first bloom pictures of the day.
Enjoy
John

Thanks for those photos of Heaven Scent, John. Your bush of it looks very healthy and nice, too. I hope it makes some fuller double flowers for you this summer, too.

Charlie

electric orange today ;D

Beautiful and artistic photo of Electric Orange. I have to admit that I also crave seeing the bloom straight on - not as artistic but in some ways conveying more info to people thinking of growing it. If you feel like it, I would love to see it that way, too.

Charlie

do you mean more of the whole plant????/It is so easy though to get good photos ,,they are so beautiful....electric orange is such a pure orange....wow

Don't mind me, please keep on taking them however it feels right to you! I always love to see these flowers growing wherever they are.

Charlie

Space Oddity yesterday... 105 degrees at my house yest.!  

Creole Lady just popped open... wish my camera would focus on the closeups better.  This is a really pretty flower!

Jordan, unfortunately Creole Lady flowers do fade considerably during the day, but I agree the opening flower is very pretty. Not a bad bush, either, well branched and mostly upright.

Charlie

Here's our creole lady
Song Sung Blue
un-named Dupont

here are some blooms from today....firestorm and creole bell....song sung blue......charlie also I am posting a photo of my sugar plum plant....it only has 3 branches and is growing only on the top....I pruned it a little a couple months ago....any suggestions??  thanks Lynette

All very pretty!

Lynette, the Sugar Plum probably won't do much until this June gloom weather we've been having gives way to real summer weather. It's not a particularly vigorous variety but should grow steadily this summer and start blooming before long. I'd just keep doing what you are doing and wait to see what a difference warmer weather will make.

Charlie

Very Nice pics everyone!  Geez i am pretty bloom starved atm, everyone is just budding... sigh

MELON MELANGE JUST ARRIVED TODAY WITH A NICE BIG BLOOM.....

Black Dragon at dusk.....  as is typical for the cv, the bush needs a little work.  I am going to prune and stake him up.