Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

Dragons Heart. It has took its time coming[its took about 4 days for the bud to open] but am very pleased it has.  David.

David, Congratulations on that fine looking bloom. It's not Dragon's Breath, it's Dragon's Heart, an offspring of Dragon's Breath. I'm very pleased that you got these deep colors in the heat of Vietnam since Dragons Heart is darker and more maroon for us in our cooler weather and more cherry red in hot summer. Could be the way you are fertilizing that makes a difference. In any case, it sure has good color.

And thanks for getting the July Flower Photos of the Day thread going. June set a new record for pages viewed in the forum - lots of people like to see what's happening with hibiscus around the world!

Charlie

Thanks Charlie,i have changed it to Heart. This is one of the ones that is in the shade in the rockery i built, i take it out and give it 90 mins sun every morning.

Wow David,

Your DH is doing alot better than mine!  Perhaps I need to grow it with more shade?  Thanks for sharing!

David, I see you got your camera working again. Nice job a beautiful plant and a great flower
John

High Voltage
(http://i48.tinypic.com/3445snt.jpg)
(http://i49.tinypic.com/wwmbn8.jpg)

It seems to do very well in the heat we have here in Houston,Texas.

Yes, we've heard from several people in Houston who say that High Voltage has done well for them there. It is one of the most reliable of the large flowered hibiscus in our experience in California, too.

Pretty pics!

Charlie

Illuminati yesterday... it's first bloom for me.  What amazing texture this bloom has!

that cv is so pretty!! ::)....here are some of my blooms..elec orange...light my fire and creole lady :D

Wow great pics!  Jordan your Illuminati is alot more pink than mine have been more yellow, the form is still perfect :) 

Nice pix motherof4!  Your Electric Orange makes me want my Saffron to hurry up and bloom. 



Chris, maybe it's the heat.  It's been over 100F here for almost a week.   :o

Jordan,dont you dare mention Safron,as i write mine is in the Customs office in Ho-Chi-Minh City,ha ha i expect they are wondering why the flower is so bright.
Great picture of Creole lady mother of 4.

Cindy's Heart first bloom today.
(http://i46.tinypic.com/s1lyxw.jpg)

Wow, Doll, it is so beautiful. Very crisp and clean.

Happy 4th of July!
My best CV so far is Heaven Scent, she bloomed again today for the 4 th
Voodoo Magic didn't want to left out!
Chariots of Fire, said me too!
John

Well that is messed up!
Will redo JP

I'll try this again

Look at Heaven Scent respond to some TLC! Very, very nice.

Charlie

Heartbreak Hotel today.  First bloom for me x2!  I guess HBH has been feeling very yellow.  It has been without fertilizer for just over a week, as I just repotted it.


David I hope you got your Saffron!  If they see it bloom they may decide to keep it.  :P

Very nice HBH Jordan,its strange but coming first time in a pair seems to happen a lot.

Black Dragon again today with a more purple color.  Just wondering, what are the conditions that will contribute to a near black color in BD's eye?


David, I remember your Sleeping Beauty twins opening.  I think this is the first time this has happened to me on first bloom but here's to hoping it happens more often!   :D

I know it is suppose to be darker.....but I think the purple is really pretty!!

Jordan, with most varieties the flower color darkens when exposed to cooler temperatures but Black Dragon is an exception from what I've seen. The best color on it has been in summer for me, but exactly what conditions bring out the most "black" is something I've never been able to determine. You could experiment with nutrition - next time you are going to give Black Dragon fertilizer give it 2 teaspoons per gallon of Booster (potassium nitrate) instead of the regular fertilizer. John P in the Dallas area has been trying this and sent me some photos of some vividly colored blooms recently. It's not good to do it all the time but once every 2 weeks is not excessive.

Charlie

Very Pretty Jordan!

I got very vivid blooms of my black dragon when it was indoors in the winter, they were very dark and these were under mild conditions.  The same went for Black Dragon's parent Dragons breath.  The one thing that was unique however was how much sun they got, both these plants only got 2 hours of indoor sun a day and had very dark blooms.   If Saffron responds to more shade by producing more yellow/orange blooms, its possible that more shade could produce darker flowers in other varieties.  Here are two pics, they might be old ones, but i think they represent what I observed indoors last winter. 

Aha, thanks guys.  BD hasn't had booster lately as I've recently removed it from my fertilizing program for now due to a few plants with some burnt leaves.  I had been using it every watering w/ fertilizer at half a teaspoon per gallon.  Too much!  Anyway, I am going to re-incooperate it at two teaspoons per gallon every two weeks.  In fact now that I think of it, BD got potted up last Sat (week and a half ago). and hasn't had fertilizer since.  I will start fertilizing again this coming Sat.  Maybe this is why this particular bloom was unusually purple.  The HBH that a posted a few days ago has also been w/o fert. since then.  I will fertilize Sat/Sun and give the booster Monday probably, then back to fert. for 2 wks.  I am anxious to see the results of using booster in a new way.

Chris, your photos of BD are wonderful and what sold me on the variety.  I do have plans for my BD to eventually be a houseplant, so hopefully I get blooms as nice and dark as yours.  What temp. do you keep your house usually?  I like my house cold (68 to 70) but I'm working on getting over that for when I bring the hibs indoors this winter.  :P  Last winter they were in a room with a space heater that kept it 80 degrees, but I will have WAAAAY more plants than that room can hold alone this year. 

So I just went outside to water and Creole Lady has opened twins!  She's been shedding buds like crazy because of thrips... not today!

Forgot to add that I know CL is a chronic fader.  If I get home before dark this evening I will take end of day bloom photos as well.

It would be interesting to see pics of the same blooms after they faded. Hope you make it home in time :)

I saw CL at the local Armstrong nursery this morning, along with Eye of Kali and Acadian Spring and about 30 pots of other cv's. I was really tempted to buy a couple, but they were all crawling with thrips amd spider mites. However, all plants looked lush and otherwise healthy.

Here's a few of mine from the past couple days.

Ian

Great photos, Ian. That Tangerine Dream bloom was particularly nice.

Charlie

For those interested, Cindy is spending the day adding plants to the online store today. Poor C has come down with a case of shingles, a painful flare up of the chicken pox virus that happens mostly to people over 50. Working on the store distracts her from the pain but she's not a happy camper today, to say the least. I'm doing what I can to ease the pain and cheer her up but there's not much that can be done as it runs its course.

Charlie

Oh no, I hope Cindy feels better soon. Shingles don't sound fun at all :(

Thanks for the heads up, Charlie!

Uli, I did make it home in time!  The blooms were closing but you can still see what color they ended up.


Charlie, tell Cindy we hope she feels better.  I haven't experienced shingles but the chicken pox were bad enough.  ouch  :(

Wow! that first bloom in particular looks delicious enough for me to go back to Armstrong's and see if they still have it there. Will just have to quarantine and spray, I suppose. Thanks :)

Uli, I know what you mean, I'm not really a fan of faders but in this case this is one of the few blooms that I still find attractive after it fades.  Its bush is good, it branches naturally, and it blooms a lot; but mites do seem to LOVE this cv.  The plant pictured was covered in mites when I got it in the mail (not from HVH, another vendor) and of course they put it in the box with all the others.  UGH!  Anyway, it's almost clean now and as soon as I get the fertilizer burn issues worked out the bush will look even better. 

Allegedly CL sets seeds too, but I haven't tried. 

I seem to recall someone mentioned seeing Hotbiscus at an Armstrong Garden Center lately that were "teeming with mites and thrips". I hope anyone seeing this will complain to the store manager and point it out to him/her. It is not the store's fault - it is their grower's fault for sending them out that way. I've pointed it out to their growers before but they just don't take it seriously enough. If they hear complaints from customers they might start doing more spraying. I don't think they understand thrips at all and never use spinosad so most Hotbiscus will have thrips when you get them from them. They were doing better with mites for awhile but apparently are not doing so well presently.

I think you are referring to my post, Charlie. I actually just got back from the store with  Creole Lady after seeing Jordan's pics. They had the "hotbiscus" in two separate sections. The plants in the back were crammed close together and had the mites/thrips. The few in the front looked clean. When I mentioned the situation to the owner, she offered me 50% off any hibiscus. I grabbed the CL from the front and will keep it quaranteened and treat it.

How long before I'm in the clear?   

Charlie give her my best...I  have had a couple of friends get shingles and I heard they are very painfull.....so sorry..lynette

Poor Cindy,

Hope she feels better!  On a side note, doctors have been recommending giving the varicella vaccine to individuals over 50 as a booster against chicken pox and shingles.  Since the immune system wains as we get older, a booster is thought to boost your titer against the varicella virus in the event that it reactivates (shingles)  Something to look into in the future, but for now time and lots of orange juice :)

sigh.......with both Chris and Cindy pushing me to get the vaccine for shingles, I have to surrender and do it. Ah well, watching Cindy suffer with this is enough to make anyone want some protection. She's a tough cookie with pain normally, but this one has been rough.

BTW, Chris, she says to tell you your quick action on Pinot Noir beat out the waiting list this time. Well done, I say!

Pinot Noir has turned out to be much better than I at first thought it was. Fantastic color and often full 8 inch size. Probably less impressive mid-summer in full sun but in less intense conditions it's one of the best we are growing.

Charlie

LOL!  I've learned over the last two years :D  I was waiting for either Pinot Noir or Arabian princess for a lobbed leaf variety, I have some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket and today it burned right on through.  Plus these 4' pots are easy to move, they fit right into the cup holder of your car :)

Charlie,

I just think you and Cindy should just send all your regular customers one of each as they come available, I was able to get 2 of what I wanted but when I ordered,  Ruby Tuesday wasn't  listed but now it's listed and out of stock so I missed out on that one again. I think everyone would agree that way would be fair.   Just my thoughts.


Patrick

ya i was checking about every hour and i had to leave for about 3 hours tonight and there was ruby tues....gone...oh well

It sure makes all the blood, sweat, and tears involved in producing these worthwhile when we get this kind of response and comments! Thanks to everyone!!

We probably should have some sort of priority system in place. Occasionally a first time hibiscus grower will stumble into the store at just the right moment to buy something rare they shouldn't start with, and before the waiting list people see their email about it. That's always frustrating but we haven't figured out a better system yet.

Cindy didn't finish the update yesterday. There are a few varieties not sold before that she needs to build pages for and I think she only made it up to S by the end of the day. For instance, Shockwave is a new one that will be added later today. It's a huge flower - 8 to 10 inches - with bright and clear red and yellow colors. Doesn't root so just a few grafted plants have been made so far. Also a Wild Thing (parent of Heartbreak Hotel) for someone daring enough to grow that one. Also a new introduction called Scarlet Beauty - huge red flower, and New Idea - a double red from Australia, several Strawberry Cream - a pink and white as big as Fantasy Charm but with the heavy texture of Byron Metts, and a few Splash plants, a splashy one that I really like. Hopefully she will get to all this today. She's still moving slowly, dealing with the pain of the shingles attack but working on the computer is a good distraction so I imagine she will be at it most of the day.

Charlie

WOAH Charlie,

Shockwave is awesome!  What a cool flower, its like Saber Dance, but it sounds like it is alot larger!  I gave my Uncle a Saber Dance last year (Hes a horticultural buff) and it just keeps on blooming.  I will be looking out for Shockwave later today :)

I am not going to lie, having an iPhone has helped out alot as far as knowing when the store updates are being done:)

Aha, your secret is out! I see more and more hibiscus photos taken with Iphones nowadays. I understand there are apps available that allow full editing of the photos on the camera as well.

Shockwave is indeed very much like Saber Dance, but twice as big. Saber Dance blooms more, as smaller flowered varieties often do, but Shockwave has the more impressive flower. I have another one, Pomp and Circumstance, that is also a red and yellow and also huge, but the bush is sprawling and doesn't branch well so when Shockwave came along I was very pleased and stopped messing around with Pomp. Shockwave also has something interesting happening in the eye zone some of the time. The flower develops more yellow area the hotter it gets, creating more of a picotee effect, and more red area the cooler it gets, but so far it has always had both colors unlike some that are essentially reds that develop yellow spots in the heat. Shockwave is Rosalind x Work of Art, both Australian varieties that I imported a decade or more ago. It resembles Work of Art more than Rosalind, perhaps a better bush but the flower is very similar.

Charlie

My first Belle du Jour bloom. It was so heavy I had to prop up the branch with a stick.
(http://i25.tinypic.com/359h8qv.jpg)

I really like that Ruby Tuesday. I will have to add it to my wishlist.

Nice one, Doll!

Ruby Tuesday more or less failed in propagation last year, but we're about to start a new round of propagation and there is a lot more wood available this year. I'm hopeful the supply will be better in the future.

Charlie

Charlie,

Your pics have made this a done deal, Shockwave is awesome!  I really like the hot weather blooms!  Do you have any pics of Work of Art? 

I'm glad you like it, Chris. I'll have to search for some photos of Work of Art.

Unfortunately, Cindy felt so bad today that she stayed in bed and didn't get to do any more updates. Mea culpa - spoke to soon.

Charlie

Here are some blooms for today, it was raining so I brought them inside to photograph.

Creole Lady
Time for Magic
Tahitian Taui

Cindy told me she had shingles right after I lucked out and ran across Flashdancer yesterday. I was just browsing in the store and surprised to see it and a few others on my wish list.  I wish there was something I could do to help her get through it since she gave me a load of encouragement and some things to try last summer when I was battling a very nasty case of thrush which ultimately helped me get rid of it. Then she gave even more encouragement when I got that really strange and quite debilitating neuromuscular problem around Thanksgiving. According to the neurologist the second problem was likely triggered by the first, which was an infection that lasted for over two months.  Still nothing compared to shingles which a friend down the street had for several months and she was quite miserable. I'm with Charlie, time for me to get that vaccine.

dave

Thank you for being so understanding, everyone! I'm back at work today - not sure how long I'll last, but here for now.

You know, when Charlie posts flowers here that you like, shooting me a waiting list email is always a good idea - especially with new cvs that most people don't know about. It won't always work. If we only have a couple of one variety and I have a waiting list of 20 people waiting for it, then nothing will really help. But on some of the new varieties, you guys on the forum are the only ones who know about them. So then you're at the top of the waiting list.

It is my experience though that even though it may take a couple of years, we do almost always manage to get everyone the cvs they ask for on the waiting list. We're slow but sure! LOL Like the tortoise.... :-)

I had mostly a day of "twins" today, but soooo many bloomed I had to share! This set are singles, obviously!
Magic Crystal, (my favorite new one so far!)
Black Dragon
Bridal Path
Solar Eclipse
Creole Lady
Sparkling Water
...Lisa

...Here are the "twin" pictures. I do have a Space Oddity with 9 blooms open today and a Blue Ballerina with 6!
File Gumbo
Braveheart
Solar Eclipse
Byron Metts
Pinot Noir
Moon Shadow!
Don't you just love going out each day and seeing who's opening?! The dogs and I go out first thing every day!
 ;D
Lisa

Lisa, those photos are amazing!  Post a pic of that space oddity and blue ballerina :)  You must be more inland where it has been warmer in Southern California, like my parents.  My mom has told me that Cinnamon Girl and Space Oddity have been blooming in multiples everyday since June, and they are just north of Los Angeles.  Thanks for showing!  Now I have something to strive for :P

Wow, Lisa!  I'm so jealous :P

I'm still waiting on some of my babies to grow up!!!



Your Magic Crystal makes me regret missing it.

WOw, Lisa, what a day for you! Today's sunshine and warmer temps must have helped, but your plants all look very nice and healthy.

Nice to see Magic Crystal. I had it in my shopping cart the other day but must have sat on it too long waiting for something else I'd lilke to add. Bam! it was gone :( I'm glad to see that you like it, and it looks lovey. Black dragon looks great...they all do :)

magic crystal is very nice....here are a couple of blooms from today ..melon melange....an gabriel...and yes I also go out every morning to check to see what is blooming..lynette :-X

Magic Crystal is one of my favorite new ones, too. It's not usually as dark as Lisa's but is always very pretty.

Charlie

Lynette, I'm so jealous of that Gabriel! How pretty it is!!

Magic Crystal is worth waiting for! I must admit I have it where it gets morning shade to keeps it's opening color longer, but it's still amazing when it fades. I posted a picture of it later in the day. My Space Oddity's flowers have faded in the sun, but they're still pretty!
Lisa

Blue Ballerina
Space Oddity
Magic Crystal later in the day

I love your blue ballerina....your plants look nice and full....are they older???Where is it you live?....LYNETTE

Thank You!

I live in Moreno Valley, CA. I have plants of all ages. The Blue Ballerina is about 3 years old. The Space Oddity is in the ground and it's probably 5 years old. The Space Oddity was one of the few survivors of the bad freeze we had here in So Cal a few years ago. Prior to the freeze I had my plants in the ground, now they are all in pots so they can come in when the weather is bad. It's quite a job to bring them all in, but it's worth it to have them safe. The ones I have in the ground are getting pretty big and they bloom like crazy!

I do fertilize regularly and fuss over the plants a bunch, but it pays off in the blooms!
Lisa

i LIVE IN RIALTO....i HAVE BEEN COLLECTING FOR ABOUT A YEAR.....AND i ALSO FUSS OVER THEM....THANKS LYNETTE

Hi guys,

I added more space for pics, so you should be able to post them now. I did cut down the allowed size a bit though to 300kb (400x400px) per photo, and 5 photos per posting. This allotment is bigger than what I use on our website, so hopefully it will work for you. If anyone has trouble with it, just email me, and I'll help you. On our website I try to keep all graphics under 200kb, so it's best to do that in the forum too if you can.

Holler if you need help! 
Cindy

Thanks for fixing it, Cindy. I just tried posting a new seedling photo and it came through with no problem!
xoxoxoxoxo

Charlie

Good! I'm glad it worked. :-)
xxx
Cindy

I have my camera on the lowest setting and still they are still over 300 kbs...I do not know how to resize.....?? Lynette

I upload my pics to tinypic and resize them.
Voodoo Queen
(http://i47.tinypic.com/4hqsqt.jpg)

Hi Lynette,

Try this to reduce the number of KB:
  - Open the photo in whatever program your computer uses to open pics.
  - Pull down the File menu to Save As
  - Choose .jpg or jpeg as the form to save it in
  - Choose a lower "size" or "quality" setting. Most programs allow you to see the size in KB as you change this setting. You don't need the lowest settings - usually the middle range is fine.

Let me know if it works!
Cindy

pina colada.....just seeing if it posts

I'm glad we can post pix again because I've had two good bloom days in a row.  These are yesterdays photos:

Sunkissed Blonde - 2nd time it's bloomed for me and the first time this year.  I can't wait until the bush is more mature, as I really like the look of this flower.

Stormy Rainbow

Creole Lady twins again  :)

Today's blooms...


Voodoo Magic opened the most perfect bloom today with great color.  I had to help it open all the way, I would imagine because of thrip stress.

Confection Perfection surprised me this morning when it had opened.  Didn't think it would open until tomorrow but here it is! 

Stormy Rainbow bloomed today with a little better color than yesterday...

Finally, another Creole Lady bloom today.  :)

Very nice, Jordan. So are your flowers opening in the sun or do you have them in the house? Big difference in the Creole Lady blooms yesterday and today - looks like cloudy day and then sunny day blooms. Feels like summer is finally coming to coastal southern CA although you probably have had sun for awhile now.

Charlie

For Lynette and anyone else who is thinking how best to resize photos. I wrote in detail about this in the Forum Guideline section under a topic named "Sending Photos to the Forum". I will copy and paste the second part of that below since it describes 3 ways to resize photos. It is really quite easy to do, once you have done it one time. Don't be afraid to try because it truly is simple once you get the hang of it.

Form "Forum Guidelines":

Instructions for resizing a digital photo. Long but easy to do once you have tried it!

Virtually all computers come with some sort of photo editing software and almost all digital cameras include one as well. The latter need to be installed by running the cd/dvd included with the camera and following the directions for installation - usually a simple, 1-2 step process nowadays.


The 3 Techniques That Do The Job

Once you find and start (run) the photo editor program on your computer, there are 3 ways to change the photo file size to get it under the 400 kb limit that the forum requires. That limit is there to allow the downloading of photos in a reasonable time by people all over the world, many of whom do not have super fast internet connections. It also reduces the bandwidth used by the forum which could get to be a problem for us eventually.

You should learn how to do all 3 techniques, since they are all very useful when dealing with digital images. They are also very simple, once you see how it is done. Seems like rocket science at first, but after you have done it once or twice you will see that it is a simple process.

Technique 1: crop your photo. This means cutting off any or all of the 4 sides of the photo so that only the part of the image that is important remains. Often there is a lot of foliage or other content that you don't really care if anyone sees around the top, bottom, or sides of the photo. By "cropping" that out you reduce the file size and make a better photo. All photo editors have a "crop" tool and the ones I have seen are very easy to use. Using your mouse, you drag the sides of a box that appears on screen so that everything in the box is what you want, and everything that is outside the box is what you are about to crop out of the photo. Most of them work by first dragging the sides of the box to where you want them, and then by double clicking inside the box to perform the actual crop, leaving only the desired part of the photo showing after the crop.

Technique 2: Resizing the dimensions of the photo. All photo editors allow you to open a photo file, and then change the size of the height and width of the photo. You can work with pixels or a unit of measurement such as inches. A good size for the forum is 600 x 600 pixels which is about 8 inches x 8 inches. Sometimes you want to show the photo larger, sometimes smaller, but anything from 400 to 800 pixels on a side is good for the forum. By reducing the size of the photo you will also reduce the file size closer to the 400 kb maximum per photos.

Technique 3: Compressing the file - this is the most powerful technique for reducing file size. You will not see any changes like you do with the first 2 techniques unless you overdo it, but you can change the file size to almost anything you like by using it. Most likely the camera is saving the photo in jpg or jpeg format, which is what you want. If not, then change the extension after the period in the photo file name to jpg. Different photo editors let you do this in different ways, so just check that it has this extension or change to this extension and then proceed to compress the photo.

Many editors do this step when you save the cropped, resized image. The amount of compression is shown as low, medium, or high or by a percentage between 0 and 100 percent. A decent photo editor should show you the file size that will result from the percentage compression you are selecting. Just select more compression until the file size is down to somewhere between 100 kb and 400 kb. Tip: for technical reasons the file size shown in the photo editor may not be what the forum sees so give some room by saving the photo as a 300 kb or less photo.

In theory the amount of compression affects the quality of the photo. However, normal monitors are not capable of using the higher qualities anyway, and you are unlikely to see much if any difference between a slightly compressed and a medium or 50 percent compressed photo on your screen. Crank in enough compression to reduce the file size to 200 kb or so and you will still have an excellent quality photo. In the old days of the internet we rarely posted photos any larger than 50 kb in size, and they weren't bad. Most photos on the HVH web site are around 100 kb and they are pretty good most people would agree. The bigger the file size, the longer it takes the photos to download so it is not helpful to post photos larger than is needed for good viewing.

This covers the basics. There are many details and many differences due to different software but once you figure out how to do these 3 things using the software you have you will be able to post well cropped photos that show as the size you want and compressed enough to download quickly (and meet the requirements of the forum).

Please keep the questions coming about this, as needed.

Charlie

John Doll gave us a good suggestion also. I just visited the site, www.tinypic.com and tried it out. It's very easy to use and does the resizing for you. I like my photos fairly large so chose the option called "Message Boards" which resized my huge photo to 640 x 480. It reduced the 1.3 mb file (same as 1300 kb) down to a nice 176 kb, well under the forum limit.

I'm sure Doll or someone else can advise anyone having questions about how to use the site to resize. It seemed like it lets you do 4 photos before joining. I'm not sure about that but it let me resize one photo with no hassles.

Charlie

If you use tinypic just choose the size you want before you upload. It automatically resizes the image. Then to post in the forum just use the direct link url and put between the image tags.
Here are the two best sizes to use:
320x240
(http://i25.tinypic.com/359h8qv.jpg)
640x480
(http://i31.tinypic.com/2uoigkz.jpg)

The original was 2048x1536
I use the camera on my Nokia N73 phone.

I think I got it....I tried tinypics..but could not get it to download...so I went to photobucket and was able to do it on there....plus was ale to do some real neat things with my photos..any way here are some of my blooms...and everyone has beautiful blooms..lynette

heres 1 more haute couture

Great pics!


Jordan your Sunkissed Blonde is much nicer than mine, its bush is looking pretty weak.  I am hoping it will pick up this summer, but that bloom is very very nice.  I really like the sunset colors!  Thanks for sharing :)

Loving all these pics :)
Sunkissed Blonde and Confection Perfection...wow!

Charlie,

    My plants are all outside at the moment... I caught yesterday's Creole Lady blooms as they were opening.  Today I slept a little later.  :P  The bloom from today did fade a little more than they had been.  It ended up yellow.  I think at some point CL will end up as a houseplant as I prefer its opening colors.  It has been cooler here than normal until a few weeks ago.  Cooler than normal here though is mid to high eighties, ugh.  Bay area spoiled me!  It's high nineties to 100s mostly now.  A couple of weeks ago it was 106.


Thanks everyone for the comments and photos!  Lynette your Haute is amazing!!  Can't wait for mine to bloom! 

Chris I will cross my fingers for your SKB.  Mine took awhile so maybe yours will take off too!

it is going to be in the 100s for the next few days...my blooms are all wilted by the end of the day.....they were doing great when it was in the 80s and low nineties..lynette

Buttercup today in perfect form.  This is the first bloom I've had from it this year.  The plant had a hard prune a few weeks ago, though, so no more for awhile.  It's sending up a ton of new branches!

Here's some photo's from today,

Rocket's Red Glare
Ghost
Topaz Glory


I pollenated them all with Silver Memories.

I'm loving all these photos from everywhere. Glad to see some really rare ones like Butter Cup and Ghost. I see Ghost has the little petaloids at the top of the staminal column that Cindy and I like. Reminds us of her pure white cat named Ghost - what a sweetie that one was for 20 years! Doll's pics of Belle du Jour are amazing, such a ruffled bloom that time.

Finally hot weather in southern CA, enough to cause a big thunderhead to form over the coastal mountains and spill some rare July rain down on us late in the day. This will bring out the flowers in the outdoor gardens!

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

What was the brown pod mate to Ghost, I think Scarlet was the red one, then ghost but I don't recall the picture of the 3rd one.

Thanks, Patrick

Hi Patrick,

That "Podmate" would be Ivory Coast, the other 3 being the white one - Ghost, the red one - Scarlet Beauty, and a bright fuscia pink one that I don't think we've named yet. For those not familiar with the "4 Podmates" what we are talking about are the new varieties that came from 4 seeds out of the same seedpod - a cross of Saffron x Berried Treasure. All 4 are large, well formed flowers in mostly solid colors.

Here's a photo of Ivory Coast.

Charlie

Charlie, so was Rockin' Robin not the red podmate featured in the newsletter then?  That's what its description says.  I'm confused!!  I'd recognize Ivory Coast anywhere though.  I can't wait for it to be released.

Whoops, some brain fog around this morning! You are absolutely correct - Rockin' Robin is the red one and Scarlet Beauty is the one with a touch of fuchsia in it. Therein lies some of the problem in that Scarlet Beauty has shown different shades of color but is for sure less a pure red compared to Rockin' Robin.

Thanks for speaking up, I'd hate to leave that incorrect info posted.

Charlie

Ivory Coast - another beauty :)

One of my favorite CV's is Fallen Hero, today in it's warm-weather color (I wish it had a different name, with my oldest son being a Midshipman at the Naval Academy and wanting to commission into the Marine Corps - it just gives me a tighness in my chest that I could do without).

Anyway, FH is one of the least finnicky CV's I own, very reliable and always gorgeous :)

Uli, I'm so glad to hear that Fallen Hero is working out for you. If it was easier to propagate I would offer a lot more of them. The name is perhaps too sad, it was inspired by the passengers who fought back on 9/11 and prevented the third plane from crashing somewhere in Washington DC. I wanted to commemorate that brave response to the insanity of that situation.

Charlie

Charlie, I have to train myself to think about your reason for it that name. These passengers' bravery is definitely worthy of recognition, and another reason why every hibiscus lover should have this wonderful cv.

Fantasy Charm and Chariots of Fire

Very pretty. Have you seen any of the really huge Fantasy Charm flowers - up at around 10 inches? It always amazes me that such large flowers pop out of relatively small buds which just goes to show that bud size and flower size are only slightly related.

Charlie

High Voltage trio
(http://i31.tinypic.com/jzbd3m.jpg)

This is a 2 gallon one I received 10 days ago.

Great pics everyone!

I was at my parents house this weekend and got some pics :)

Chariots of Fire
Cinnamon Girl

 

Cinnamon Girl...I really miss mine. Hopefully Charlie is working on some?

Yes, I would say I've had some huge Fantasy Charms, mostly second day blooms. Whether they were 10 or a mere 9 inches, I don't know, but they sure are breathtaking!!

Here's another bloom from ghost, I took a photo from the side so you could see the petaloid.

Patrick

Like those Petaloids!

Here are two from today, I picked Dragon's Heart early this morning and it didnt get burned in the sun, and was a pretty bloom.  Still havent gotten any bigger than 5 inches, but the form is good.

Also Rockets Red Glare

Lots of varieties will show petaloids occasionally but this seems to be a more or less permanent feature of Ghost. Kinda cute!

I agree about the form of your Dragon's Heart, Chris. An almost perfect circle with full overlapping of the petals. Color not as dark as it will be when you get to Washington State.

There's something about being at altitude that seems to mimic a hotter climate. For example, the amount of blue/grey in the photo of RR Glare relative to the red is more than I think I've seen before on this variety, something I would expect only in the hottest climates. It works like that for airplanes - the amount of lift you get at 80F at 8000 ft is similar to the lift when it's 110F at sea level, give or take a few degrees and a few feet. OK, flower color is something different but apparently altitude and heat correlate in both cases to performance.  ;)

Charlie

Hmm I didn't think about that Charlie, but it also has been in the high nineties all week, so that might have also made these blooms look pretty different.  I am dealing with an outdoor spidermite outbreak that sprung up when I was back in Cali, HC looks to have gotten the worse of it.  BC looks like it just started so I am spraying the back of the leaves down twice a day to remove those suckers.  Pending no more thrips... BC should bloom this week :)

Here's a photo of Cheery Disposition and Silver Memories, still haven't been able to get Cheery Dis to set seed but still trying.

Patrick

Patrick, can you post a larger version of this nice pic of  SM? Thanks!

My first bloom of P's Purple. It is so cute!!! I love its simplicity and soft color. Not sure I would call it purple, but it's lovely :)

As it turns out P's Purple fades quite a bit. It was a silvery lavender last night, very even, light and soft...kinda pretty because it made the pollen and pollen pads stand out and glow.

The pic is from this morning, one bloom closing as another one opens, with yet another one on standby.

Second pic is Creole Lady, on its second day.

P's Purple comes from a long line of European houseplant hibiscus. These are used on patios and balconies in summer but spend the rest of the year indoors near windows. The neat thing is that there are no lavender colored blooms in its ancestry, at least none that we know of. Must have been a gene for it somewhere since it popped out in this variety. Yvonne hybridized this one in Sweden. Maybe it was waiting to come to America to show this "new" color....

Charlie

Finally a bloom to share!

Acapulco Gold with petaloids!

Ugh so frustrating not seeing pix!  my AG should bloom in a month or so.  its on the south side of the house as i know AG likes a little more sun, at least for blooming.

Chris's photo of Acapulco Gold got me thinking about what people like in a hibiscus. Aca Gold often shows this "form with flair" rather than the more formal perfectly round and overlapped look preferred by show judges. Yet Acap Gold outsells most other hibiscus we offer. I think the bright colors are the main attraction and people tend to be flexible about form.

Charlie

Well its not my exact favourite but close to it,saying that everyone who has admired my cv's always pick AG as there favourite.

Saying as you mention about the form of flowers i am a bit confused as to what is meant by ''cup and saucer'', is that not what is shown in Crise's photo.

Here are a couple photo's from today,
Dragon's breath
Over the Rainbow

Ghost opened up also so I crossed pollenated it with Dragon's breath


Thanks, Patrick

Some real beauties, Patrick. Over The Rainbow is always a treat. I'd love to see a reverse of Dragon's Breath - what you might get when crossing it with the all white Ghost. Imagine a white with red swirls!

Charlie

The overcast mornings and sunny afternoons we've been having lately bring out a lot of great blooms. Today's photos are all pairs - 2 each of the different varieties. Two of these are of unnamed seedlings, one blueish and the other brown. We also have a pair of Cranberry Muffins - seems like this variety blooms multiples often, and a delightful pair of White Diamond blooms. Great little flower but a rather weak bush which is why my arm shows holding the stems up to get the photo. Last is a pair of Blues In The Night, an all around excellent new variety.

Charlie

Great photos Charlie!  Now I am new to this, but I like to play a game when I see your seedlings.  I like to try to think of the parents...  I was wondering if one of the parents of the brown seedling is Saffron?  I'm partial to Saffron.  It's my favorite that I have so far!

Charlie, they are all great. And they have one thing in common-- they all have red pollen pads (is that even the correct term?). I love red ones!

Charlie,

That first new seedling is awesome, blue with those cool leaves! :D

I was thinking about how to increase the probability of getting a blue flower with white swirling, like Dragon's Breath.  I was doing some research and came across some Tigerama seedlings that showed this white swirling effect.  Since Tigerama is a brown, it is more likely to produce blue offspring when crossed to another blue. Have you also seen Tigerama pffspring that have the white swirling?  If you can get swirling with Tigerama it could be a better place to start to get a blue flower with white swirling than DB.  What is your experience with hybridizing using Tigerama? 

Im thinking crosses like:  Tigerama x Denium Revolution, Tigerama x My Blue Heaven, Tigerama x Icestorm and Tigerama x Snowstorm.

What do you think? 

Red and orange stigma pads are favored by hybridizers due to being able to see the yellow pollen so well in contrast. Yellow pads make it hard to see if you have placed enough pollen on them.

I like to guess parents, too. Unfortunately, we can guess all we want about the brown but we won't know since I lost the tag that has the info on it. Plant tags have evolved over time but are still an issue. Lately all my seedlings have had strip tags looped around the base of the seedlings. In theory these will never come off but in practice the little seedling grows up quickly and as the base of the main truck swells the tag is stretched to the max and at around the 2 year mark it will break due to the ever increasing size of the main trunk. So........nowadays I place the tag higher on the seedling or better yet on a side branch that will not grow big enough to snap the tag. Will this solve the lost info problem? It better!

Chris, using Tigerama is a good idea in many ways. Zulu Warrior came from Tigerama. The problem with Tigerama is that its offspring rarely root and must be grafted. Still, it does give good progeny in most other respects and I have been meaning to use it more often. I'll probably graft a few plants of it this year so others interested in using it for hybridizing can give it a try. It's one of the nicest "brown" flowers to come along and worth growing just for its own sake. Below is a photo of Tigerama showing a lot of white swirls.

It's time to start crossing with the other blues you mentioned, too. I feel like we have only scratched the surface of creating new blue flowers and want to keep that going to see where it takes us.

Charlie

I agree Charlie, put me on the list for a Tigerama.  Ive been trying to get a hold of one for a while for that very reason :D

have not been getting too many blooms yesterday I had a NICE NICE RRG it was so dark but I could not find my compact flash card.

today wild dreams open (please take note these pictures are never altered for color, All I did is crop and sharpen a little) this is the best WD I have ever gotten so far !
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/s10/v17/p906088629-4.jpg)
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v12/p1026832638-4.jpg)
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/s5/v4/p881079199-4.jpg)
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v10/p813043701-4.jpg)
(http://kerrysroxy.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v14/p553848450-4.jpg)

Kerry, your WD pics really make me want one. That's one gorgeous looking bloom!! How is this one different from the ones you got before? Is this a new plant?

Absolutely beautiful.  Great shots!

Very nice, Kerry. The Wild Dream x Heartbreak Hotel seedlings from your seeds are growing happily in 2 gallon pots. No blooms yet but it shouldn't be too much longer!

Charlie

Lots of photos over the weekend but only just started transferring them from the camera. Here are 2 rare ones.

Crinkle In Time - original seedling blooming again after growing back from pruning for cuttings

Creme de Cacao x Night Runner - new seedling first blooms from a cross that could provide some good colors, this shows a first day and a second day flower.

Charlie

Really cool seedling Charlie,  I cant wait to see what HBH x WD seedlings look like.  Could be some real cool patterning. Finally have some blooms to share.  Another perfect Dragon's Heart bloom.  I think this plant would be an excellent indoor plant, if grown outside I think this is one that does best with more shade.  The flowers blacken badly in full sun.

Here is Bonnie Lass, first bloom this year!  Ive only had cool weather blooms in the winter with this one.  Wow what a fancy bloom it is in warm weather.  It has a metallic eye that is hard to capture :)

Fantastic, Chris! I've been hoping to see some photos from the many Bonnie Lass plants sent out this past year and yours is quite a beauty! I'm glad Dragon's Heart is coming in nice and dark the way you are growing it now.

Charlie

here are some blooms from today...lynette

Lynette, can you show them larger, maybe around 600 on the longest side?

My friend gave me a cutting of what she thought was Acadian Spring. Somewhere she must have gotten her wood mixed up and I received Magic Moments instead :) It's my first bloom, not very big (maybe 7") but once she gets going and the temps get out of the low 70s, I'm looking forward to seeing it in all its glory.

That is a beautiful picture of Magic Moments. Since I didn't have any doubles I almost ordered Magic Moments the other day but went with Fat Actress instead.

let me try again

Ahhh, so much better.

Great shots, Lynette. Beauties!

so yours was magic moments!.....It is a very pretty double...and I am not usually fond of doubles

After almost a 3 week dry-spell, I got a beautiful Cindy's Heart bloom.  The Japanese Beetle thought so too!  >:(  I also got my red Hardy to bloom.  Finally after growing and growing and growing.... it is almost 7' tall!!  Does anyone know the name of it?  I think maybe fireball?  Or Lord Baltimore?? 

And the monster bush!!

Lynette, I've never bought a double either. They are beautiful, but not what I imagine when I hear hibiscus. Maybe I just like the orderly look of singles. MM is a nice flower though, that's for sure, on a very strong bush. I need to prune it to get it to branch as it only has two branches.

Kristen, that is a tall bush :) Nice to see you too :)
Your Cindy's Heart looks nice also, and it reminds me of a very dark Fantasy Charm I have blooming today. C'sH just has a bit more white.

I know!  I didn't think it would ever stop.  This is the largest it has ever been.  This is year three.  The tiny Lady Baltimore that is its neighbor is only 1.5" tall and didn't come up until 2 months after this red one did. 

We have like 3 sets of stakes on this monster!  Man-O-Man!

The hardy hibiscus don't do so well in coastal southern California. They like a nice cold winter and don't get it here so we rarely see them growing in this area. There was an article in Science Daily last week about a hybridizer of the hardies. The interview sounded like he has been studying our tropical varieties from the way he talked about trying to get multiple colored blooms and lavender/blue blooms. He's already got the BIG blooms at up to a foot across.

It's nice to see Cindy's Heart and Haute Couture blooming somewhere besides my greenhouse. Both photos show excellent quality blooms - well done everyone!

Charlie

Thanks Charlie,

  I'm so glad you found CH and Saffron for me!  They are such great plants.  I cant wait to show you what is coming soon,  CH has3 buds on their way.  I will post them for sure!  I had my heart set on these two variety's and was so excited when Cindy said you found one for me!  Now my heart is set on Blue Ballerina....  ;)  any word on her?

Magic Moment seemed to glow this morning
Fallen Hero too
both are second day blooms

If anyone needs proof that SoCal is NOT having a summer this year, take a look at my 2nd day Fantasy Charm. Poor thing was all huddled up this morning (first 2 pics) but straightened out by mid day.
The description on the HVH website says "ruffled pink and white". I don't think it got the memo ;)

Charlie, because you asked recently: this FC measures 11" across.

Uli, I can only say  -  WOW!

That is some of the most intense color I've seen on a Fantasy Charm. I've often seen it big - 9 to 10 inches but an 11 inch one is spectacular..... There haven't been any credible claims of 12 inch exotic hibiscus flowers but 11 inch ones do show up now and then. Giganormous is another that often opened at 11 inches but that size is rare among exotic hibiscus.

Thanks much for showing this bloom!!!!!

Charlie

Lol, my daughter was laughing at me when she saw me with the tape measure out by the hibiscus until she saw the size of the bloom. Then she wanted me to turn it this way and that to squeeze every last eighth out of it.

And yes! The color was something else, maybe that seeweed extract I started using really works :)

Great Pics!

Charlie,  I really like Bonnie Lass alot!  It has a bunch of branches and they are all forming buds now.  Its flowers are not faring well in the full sun, but really none of the "color fast" CVs have been standing up to full sun.  I think that the high UV radiation we get at this altitude burns blooms.  I moved several into the house so I could actually enjoy blooms.  It seems like Hibiscus really do not need nearly as much sunlight as we thought.  2-3 hours direct sunlight gives the best combo of lush foliage and blooms in my experience.

Charlie, didn't you carry Creole Lady for a while? I seem to remember seeing it in the Hibiscus Gallery, but it's not there now. Maybe I'm just confused? I don't want to post pics of CV's you don't grow.

So just one last time, a faded Creole Lady on its second morning. I really like the faded colors better than when it first opens. I'm guessing in hot temps it will fade even more?

Yes, we do offer Creole Lady when we have them ready. There will be 4 very large and full ones in 2 gallon pots at the Open House on Saturday and any left over will be moved to the online store on Sunday. We'll also have Eye of Kali, Hot Pepper, Bon Temps, High Voltage, Belle du Jour, a real Flash Dancer (only 1), one Some Like It Hot, some Living Legend, and a couple of rather nice Georgia's Thunder in that same large pot size at the Open House. Any left afterwards will go into the store on Sunday.

Charlie

What is a Georgia's Thunder?

charlie...is there any way you could put flash dancer aside for me ??...I will be there for sure by around 11...I really would like that one...if not thats ok..hopefully it will be there still..lynette

Georgia's Thunder is a Dupont double - purple colors with some yellow, pretty. Good bloomer. I'll look for a good photo and post it.

Lynette, no problem, but to be safe it's best if you send an email to office@hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com so that Cindy will arrange it.

Charlie

Dark of Night bloomed today on a piece of wood that I cut for cuttings. No sun to lighten it up and it is very inky black. Thought you all would like to see how black a hibiscus can be.

Charlie

really pretty....and thankyou charlie...I did e-mail cindy...lynette

It's really living up tp it's name, isn't it? As amazing as it looks in the photo, it must be quite a sight in real life. It looks almost orchid-like in the pic.  

OMG!!!  that is awesome!

That is a really cool flower.  I had no idea that dark of night got so black!  That might be another one for my never ending collection of dark colored CVs :)

I just wanted to share the bloom I got today from Cindy's Heart.  It is quite brilliant!  No photoshopping at all. 

Cindy's Heart is one of those flowers that doesn't need any help to impress with color. The pinks are very deep and vibrant. I wish it was one that allowed for fast and easy propagation because it deserves to be out there in big numbers. Won't happen, though, and you now have one of fewer than 100 plants that exist around the world.

Charlie

Chris, Dark of Night and Pinot Noir are examples of how black the dark purples can be when the flowers open. You won't see this same color after the flower opens and sits in the sun for a couple of hours but if picked early and brought inside this is what you get.

Charlie

Very cool Charlie, I am looking to PN blooming.  Another great Bonnie Lass today.  I picked this one in the morning, before it opened and it is a great bloom.  Ive been having to pick alot of the flowers that I have been getting in order to enjoy them, the sun here burns them all badly. 

Perhaps you could help me figure out what is going on with Black Cherry, it gets big buds that look like they should open, but they just sit there closed.  This has happened with three blooms on this plant, that the buds got big and it did nothing.  They didn't even turn yellow and fall off, they are just attached, not doing anymore growing or opening.  Do you ever see this happen?

Chris, some of the customers I had in Tahiti told me that by mid morning there is not a hibiscus bloom to be found outdoors. All the big buds are picked just as they start to open and then are used to decorate homes, restaurants, offices, and women's hair. You are following a long standing tradition, not sure whether the flowers burn in the tropics but now we know that they do at high elevations.

I'm not sure what is going on with Black Cherry. You could try moving the plant inside when the next bud grows large enough and see if that makes a difference. What's the humidity like outdoors in your area? If it's low you could try creating some extra humidity around the plant by filling a large, shallow saucer with water and then setting the pot in the middle but elevated up out of the water by stones or some other support. It does not sound like an insect problem so environmental seems the most likely. Let me know if anything changes.

Charlie

I brought it inside yesterday.  So we will know if we can get blooms from it soon.  It looks like one should open today :)  Black Cherry is a very cool plant,  Ive opened up the buds that didnt open and the color was really dark.  I also have a Dragon's Heart and Black Dragon that should be blooming too :)  Dark blooms day!  Random question: Did you end up grafting Dark Angel this year?   

The sun here is VERY strong, so much so that my plants that were put out in spring are showing sunburns on their older leaves, that should have acclimated.  The new growth does not have this problem, but when you have to bring your plants inside until May here it is a bit of a problem, I also think the erratic weather is too much for hibiscus, so they have been dropping more buds than normal.  Weather has been pretty consistent for the last three weeks, and low and behold a bunch of buds forming, I guess stability is key with hibiscus :)

Stability is definitely the key for hibiscus. The dislike being moved and changes in their environment but sometimes it's still best to move them around.

I did graft Dark Angle but it didn't make it. Lately 2 bigger plants of it that are growing in the greenhouse have been blooming and the blooms have been excellent. A unique dark color, different than Dark of Night and Pinot Noir. Seeing them makes me want to try again and I plan to. This is one that went from rooting to neither rooting or working as a graft. Who knows why......but the plants that are blooming appear healthy and hopefully the wood I take later will be healthy and can be propagated.

Charlie

That is too bad Charlie about Dark Angel, some plants are just difficult to propagate.  Did you use the same root stock for grafting Dark Angel?  It might be possible that certain CVs might reject grafts of one variety, but not of another just like sometimes skin grafts or bone grafts get rejected due to differences between the donor and host. 

If you used the same rootstock maybe try grafting with different rootstock you have available.  Perhaps Dark Angel doesnt like Pride of Hankins but will readily graft to Albo?  Or maybe try another rootstock completely.  This leads me to another question, are all garden varieties good for rootstock or are there specific varieties that work best?  This is a bit of tangent for flowers of the day, but its almost August :P

Good idea, Chris. Unfortunately I don't remember what I used but I can do multiple grafts and use both rootstocks the next time, writing on the tag what was used for the rootstock. It will be interesting to see if there is a difference in takes.

When I first started grafting I used Kona, a garden variety from Hawaii that makes nice pink double flowers. It worked great but the word from Florida is that it was more likely to get root rot than Pride of Hankins or Albo so I switched to Pride of Hankins once I had some good plants of it growing. Now I doubt that Kona would have had problems in the drier weather of California but POH and Albo are such good rootstocks that I stick with them.

Before that happened I did experiment with the readily available red single hibiscus Brilliant. To my surprise the success was much less with Brilliant. The standard advice is to use any garden variety that grows well in your area if the 2 specialized root stock plants are not available. Avoid using those that grow tall thin branches such as H schizopetalus or El Capitolio, the reason being that the scion plant will grow thicker than the root stock over time and cause problems.

Charlie

Thanks for the advice!  I want to try my hand at grafting in the near future, so I will need to get one of those varieties.  I should probably get one that resists root rot, so Albo or POH?  I saw some POH wood at the garden shop a few weeks ago, they were pruning their huge plants.  It was tempting to take it :P  How about H. rosa-siensis?  I would think that the species plant would have the best rootstock. 

I remember there being some other dark blues besides Dark Angel, any prospects?  I'm still waiting for MBH to bloom, is this one that blooms small or does it take some time for it grow a bit?  The foliage on MBH sure is nice though...

Finally dark Dragon's Heart and Black Dragon :)

Another Bonnie Lass :)

Yay! Putting it inside did the trick, didn't it? BD really dwarfs DH.

From Simi Valley, CA

Heavy Metal
Blue Ballerina
Gator Pride
Black Dragon

Wow David, what an awesome line up.  I am desperate for Heavy Metal and Blue Ballerina.  Your blooms look awesome!

Here's one from today, Vin Beaujolais

Beautiful pictures.
Vin Beaujolais and Blue Ballerina are my favorites of the bunch. Can't wait till they become available.

It must be flower season, blooms coming everywhere now! I particularly enjoyed seeing Vin Beaujolais since this is the first flower of it I've seen outside the HVH greenhouse. It's a beauty, Patrick. Also those dark reds from Chris at high altitude, and that shiny Heavy Metal from a nearby valley got my heart going.

How many surprises hibiscus have for us. Take Heavy Metal, one of the most color fast of all hibiscus, yet it comes from 5th Dimension, one of the main ones to pass the fading genes to so many offspring. Heavy Metal - probably most people think of the music when they hear that but the name was actually taken from pilot slang for large airplanes. Something about the shiny sheen of the bloom suggested it.

Vin Beaujolais will be at the Open House tomorrow but if not sold will be put in the store when Cindy does a major update of the inventory on Sunday.

Charlie

Uh oh, any goodies to look out for on Sunday :)

Just to show how well High Voltage holds up in the heat.
Taken at 9:00am
(http://i30.tinypic.com/5cb0xt.jpg)
Taken at 4:40pm
(http://i28.tinypic.com/2epo6t1.jpg)

High Voltage is famous for doing well in summer - very popular in the Houston area, too. It's also one of the first to get thrips since they love white, so watch for buds that almost open but then fall off before they do.

Charlie

We won't know until Saturday evening but there should be some good things added on Sunday. Cindy will use the waiting lists so some of them will not make it to the store until she notifies the waiting list next in line.

Charlie

Hi Everyone! I thought I’d give Cindy a break and come join the fun on the forum. I’ve been “lurking” around HVH for years, and finally gave in when “Heart of My Heart” sang her siren song. Of course she couldn’t travel all the way to Michigan without a companion, so “Fat Actress” also made the trip. And then, I discovered the “Ancestors” section... The next thing I knew, a representative from every species hibiscus in the top row was on their way to my “greenhouse” (Yes, it’s really an apartment, but it looks like a jungle. Amazing what you can achieve indoors with the right plant lights, a fan, and a humidifier… Just don’t tell the hibiscus it isn't a remote Hawaiian isle!). So, here is my first HVH bloomer from the second wave: Liliiflorus  ;D

Great pics everyone!

Welcome Yash!  You should definitely post some pics of your jungle apartment under the indoor growing section!  I have been growing hibs indoors for about a year now, and its really cool to see what other peoples set ups look like :) 

Yashodhara, I'm glad you decided to show us this flower. With all the fancy CV's out it is easy to overlook the stunning beauty of the ancestors. I'd really love to see your other ones too.

Open House was great!!! Charlie, Cindy, it was a pleasure talking with you briefly. My, it was busy at 11am :) I feel so lucky that I came just in time to snatch up Creme de la Creme. My husband was laughing because I promised just to "look" and had the CdlC pot in my clutches literally within 15 seconds of arriving. Lots of beauties there...it is sooo hard to resist (I couldn't, ended up with 2 new plants from my wish list). Next store re-stocking should be exciting for those who couldn't make it.

Charlie, do you recognize this bloom? It's your Pocahontas, the one at the bottom of the stairs.

Very nice!  CDLC is going to bloom soon for me :)  What other goodies did you see/get :)

I got a Magic Crystal. I'm thinking it might look nice next to the My Blue Heaven I got earlier this month.

I felt like a kid in a candy store, seeing several others on my list. But there's always next month's Open House...and I'm not even going to peek at the next store update. Have to stay strong ;)

Ooo Magic Crystal!  When I was living in So Cal, I went to them twice.  I still wish I picked up Chocolate Cherub when I saw it... :(

OMG, I can't believe it!!! I didn't buy Magic Crystal, I bought Night Magic  :o

yes the open house was great..I enjoy them so much...thankyou charlie and cindy...and cindy how are you feeling???I am so sorry I did not ask about your shingles...you looked good....I ended up with porceline doll that was beauitiful ...much nicer than the photos...and flash dancer...so much fun..thanks lynette

Uli, I hope you didn't already have a Night Magic. It's a very nice variety itself, lots of branches and flowers and good color. However, the newer Magic Crystal is one of the prettiest soft colored blooms we grow. Could be one in your future, too. :)



Charlie

Lynette, in case Cindy misses your comment I can tell you she is much improved but still feeling the pain. The stories we have heard from others who had or knew someone who had shingles are horror stories. Fortunately hers is a milder case, though that is easy for me to say since she is the one in pain. Still, it could have been worse from what we've heard.

I almost lost Lynette's reserved Flash Dancer to a fellow who spotted it and added it to his selection of plants, but he graciously surrendered it when I explained the situation. Lots of really nice people came by yesterday!

Charlie

The Open houses are really great, and its nice that you and Cindy take the time to set them up.  I do have to admit, I have a special attachment to the plants I got at your open houses.   Theres something about looking through the sea of plants and picking out that one that is staring back at you with its big puppy dog eyes.  :)   

Yeah, I bet that is a big part of the draw! One couple drove the 2 hours down from the Hollywood Hills to select the "perfect flower color" for their yard as a birthday present for one of them. They left with 2 of the new "blue" flowers.

The table of blooms is also popular. I pick every flower opening in the greenhouse on the morning of the OH and we display them on a table and around the plant sale area.

Hope to see more forum members here one of these days!

Charlie

I cant wait to see what new blues might be stocked today :)

Here is another awesome Dragons heart.  Great color on this one too!

I didn't have a NM yet, in fact it wasn't even on the bottom of my 3-tiered wish list. Ah well, I'm sure I'll love it, and I'll have a reason to come back next month :)

Chris, you've got the knack for figuring out how to solve problems! Great job with Dragon's Heart.

Charlie

Uli, I hope I'm not salting the wound, so to speak, but there were 2 Magic Crystal in 4 inch size left over at the end of the day yesterday. They'll go up on the store later today although I think Cindy is emailing you about something else from the waiting list. In any case we will have a lot more of that pretty flower in the future.

Charlie

What a bummer!  I put Confection Perfection in my shopping cart, then went to continue shopping and when I went back to purchase it, it was sold out!! 

LOL Kristen thats how it goes for me all the time! lol  I am seeing what catches my eye today, lol

Charlie,  I think DH knew I was about to give up on it, the key is lots of extra potassium with that one.  You can get dark blooms even when its hot! :D 

I know it's late but if anyone has this post tagged for notification here are some of my July blooms.

Better late than never....now that I've figured a way to reduce my 3 mb pics to under 300 kb.  Enjoy

Farmer D

Darren, I'm glad you figured out how to reduce the photo file size. The forum would crash if we did not do that. I'm also reminded of the benefit of clicking on the photos to see the full size version rather than the thumbnail. Details and subtle colors pop out on the full size versions that just don't show on the thumbnail size.

Charlie