Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

Starting off July with some nice ones...

Farmer D

Very impressed with the black eye zone on FF this lately...

Farmer D

Beautiful photos, Darren. Your Some Like It Hot looks like it is just on the verge of breaking out with full spots but can't quite manage it yet although the red seems to be as good as it gets on that one.

Question for anyone: I have changed the size of the thumbnail photos to a maximum of 400 x 400 which makes them a lot larger and brings out a lot more details. You can still click on any photo to see the full size image which is the best way to view them even though it takes more time for the full size to load. So, the question is this - is the larger size thumbnail photo better or worse for anyone? Obviously it is better to view but it also means each page will take longer to load. Any preferences? Should I make them smaller again or perhaps even larger? Thanks.

Charlie

Hi Charlie!  I think the current photo sizes (400 x 400) are perfect  :D

Thanks Darren - Scarlet Beauty was yet another CV I had to have because of your awesome photos (the photos in the last newsletter were what finally broke my resolve).  LOVE all of your July blooms... Just gorgeous!

I have a REAL mystery bloom for everyone today...  I've waited over 3 years for this CV to bloom (the bush tree (!) is now just over 5' tall), and I was very excited when I saw that it was FINALLY producing buds. I was very surprised however when those blooms finally opened!  

Current Bloom: The bloom pictured is the third one I gotten from this branch with the same characteristics (possible sport?): White, thick, textured bloom with fuchsia pink/picote ruffled edges, about 5" wide.

Clues for the Actual CV: This CV is one of Charlie's classics... I haven't seen it for sale in the store for quite a while, but one of it's (VERY popular) offspring was among the New Year's offerings. It's bloom is HUGE (average 7-10"), one of it's parents is High Voltage, but the bloom for this CV does NOT have a white base color (under normal conditions).  Also, it's not a grafted variety.

Any guesses?  ;)
Deb

Is it bell de jour???

Yes!

I've never seen a BDJ bloom like the ones I been getting... No other braches have bloomed yet, so I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Deb  ;)

Sure is pretty.....I got her offspring...bell of the ball,,,,I used to have belle...but she died ??? :P

Hi Deb,

Just curious - have you seen this plant bloom with the normal flowers of Belle du Jour? The flowers in your photos look like Hoosiers, a very rare variety that I used to occasionally sell. I hope this is actually a sport of Belle, could be excellent.

Charlie

Hi Charlie!  No, these are the first blooms I've seen since I ordered the plant from you in August 2010.  It's tagged "Belle du Jour," has Belle's leaves and growth habit (from what I've seen/read on the Forum), but I've yet to see blooms like I've seen here for Belle.  There are buds on other branches that have yet to bloom, so I'll keep you updated.  I've tagged the branch producing the blooms I posted today, so we'll see!

Deb  :D

P.S. I "photo-napped" an image of Hoosiers from IHS for comparison: The blooms I've gotten have a deep red eye (Hoosiers is white) and dark pink/red pads (Hoosiers has yellow/golden orange).  Also, "Mystery Belle's" picote color is fuchsia pink (deep but bright), not as red as Hoosiers... Hmmmm.

Hi Everyone,

Happy summer to you all. Have not spent much time on the forum lately. Been too busy. However i have a few blooms that I would like to show you. One is a cross between cosmic gold and tigerama, this is the third bloom. bush is nice with dark green leaves. I have this one outside protected from the deer. I tell you, these plants prefer outside instead of the greenhouse. lots of moisture outside.

Also a very old cultivar, Herm Geller. I had this plant over 10 years ago and lost it. Am pleased that I could find another one. bloom is about 8 inches. And the first bloom on "Its a wonderful Life" really nice plant. bloom is about 8 inches also.

And lastly, my prize fig bush that is years old. Its called Brown Turkey. Last count there were over 2 dozen figs. this is inside, not going to treat the deer to desert.

Everyone's blooms and photos are outstanding.

Happy 4th.

Louis

Nice seedlings Lou!  I really like the bloom of It's a Wonderful life.

Deb,  since you belle has a lot of characteristics of belle, it sounds like it might be Sweet 16, Belle du Jour x Saffron

You're right, Deb. Although Hoosiers can vary a lot in the proportions of red to white, none of my photos of it show a red eye. Ideally the rest of the plant will bloom as  normal Belle du Jour which will confirm it.

Chris, Sweet 16 i a good guess - colors are very close. I've never seen one look like Deb's but with differing climate I suppose it is possible. We'll have to wait and see if these flowers change to be more like the heavily spotted Sweet 16 and to see if all branches bloom this way. No other cv comes to mind that this could be but if anyone thinks of one please let us know.

The most common sport shows a simple change of color with everything else the same. An example of that is High Voltage and its sport Hotwired. Everything looks the same including flower size and form with the change being only the yellow color. If yours is a sport there is a big change in flower size as well as color and pattern of bloom. I have seen that, too. but it is more rare. I once had a Sun Shower plant that started sporting on almost every branch, and ever sport was different. Very strange plant, that one!

Charlie

Hi Lou, nice to hear from you. Pretty seedling with strong Cosmic Gold influence. It's always great to see old classics like Herm Gellar and new standouts like Its A Wonderful Life.

Charlie

I like the new thumbnail size.

First Scarlet Dragon bloom.

Darren, I love your Nightfire.  I just replaced mine that I lost over winter.  The blooms are always pretty on that one.

Deb, your mystery flower is very pretty!  It actually reminds me a lot of Zoey.  I'll have to take a picture of mine when it blooms again.  All of my Zoey flowers have been tiny, though.  2.5" - 3."  I don't think you would have gotten a Zoey from Charlie, though.  How cool if it were a sport!

A couple of firsts for me today--  White Diamonds and Ruby Tuesday.  Along with these come some old favorites, Acapulco Gold and Cranberry Muffin.

Charlie, the photo sizes are perfect!!

Thanks Jordan... I'm looking forward to that "Zoe" picture! What beautiful blooms you have... Ruby Tuesday is looking VERY hot!!!

John - LOVE your Scarlet Dragon!!!

Deb ;)

Thanks Jordan for the NF compliment.  Your blooms and John's are very nice as always.  

Louis great to hear from you as well and nice blooms too.  Good to see some older ones we don't get to see too often.

Today another first time bloom and I'm liking it a lot - Tahitian Royal Court.  I guess it is known for larger sized blooms and for a first one over 9".  

Farmer D

a few more...

Farmer D

Deb, I was really impressed with the color on Scarlet Dragon. It should really have intense color in the fall.

Darren, those Palm Springs blooms are glowing.

Here's some blooms, Dr StrangeLove  and a seedling



Patrick

John you're right on with Palm Springs.  The red really can jump out at you in person.  Sometimes they're more pinkish red for me when I tend to let them get too much water.  I like your Wild Grape a lot - great purples...

Lots of stuff today...

Farmer D

more blooms....

Farmer D

Charlie I love the larger sized thumbs - I hope it is not too much of a problem for others to download a page as you stated...guess I'm spoiled here.

Farmer D

Darren - Your blooms (and your photos) are just stunning! I see that "Michigan weather" agrees with your gorgeous Hollywood Hibs!  8)

We finally got some rain today... A lot of it actually... OK, more like a series of monsoons. I was so afraid for the outdoor hibiscus... But they all came through, without even a broken branch, dropped bud, or damaged bloom!  They looked very happy in fact: green, shiny, clean and perky.  It seems we've traded in our "SoCal Summer" weather for "Hawaiian Tropic" (it's 80ºF with 80% humidity indoors with all the windows open at 10:45PM)!  No complaints - from human or hibiscus  :D

Today's bloomers...

Bienvenue
White Wings (a plus 7" bloom... He's waving in this photo, too!)
Some of the outdoor 'biscus

Deb  ;)

Hot Pepper
Burnt Saffron
Cindy's Heart

Hi everybody
I have a plant that was marked wrong , it was a cutting I got last november & this is the first bloom . It was suppose to be Acapulco Gold but I think its Voodoo Queen ?

That looks like a Voodoo Queen to me!  

A few blooms from me today.

Torch song, having grown both podmates (RRG and Torch Song)  I   have to say the growth habit is more tame with torch song and the blooms have a pink rim which I like alot.

Seedling that I grew from seed which I named Riptide, I hope the macro-shots show you why I like this name :)

Riptide's sibling, no name yet, but the bush is really nice I am not sure if the blooms are unique enough...

A couple more.
Mike, I think that is Voodoo Queen.

John that Burnt Saffron is really amazing with that gold edge.  Chris I really like Riptide a lot - very unique!  Mike whatever that is it is really cool looking - can you post another pic when it is fully opened?

Here are a couple of shots from last week before my camera got watered.

Also a crazy super petaloid Flickering Flame, can't even tell which way is up on this one.

And a few more shots of that bouquet of blooms for COF

Farmer D

Beautiful photos everyone!  I especially love Voodoo Queen and can't wait until mine gets going.

From me today:  Winter Lights, Zoey (for Deb), and Carnelian/Sweet Caramel (not sure  who this may be).

Happy 4th of July to all!

1st bloom for Moorea Imperial Blossom.  The plant is beat up from shipping and day 2 of the bloom but you can see some neat patterns on this one...

Farmer D

Jordan those are some beautiful blooms, wow for Zoey very unique and fun!!

Farmer D

Here are some pics from today
Norm

Our temperature today is 103 deg. most of my plants are ok but the flowers fall off because its to hot . We have had some days it was 107 deg. I'm surprized I havent lost any . ???

  Very nice pics Mike. I know the heat will effect the flowers but do the plants seem to mind temps. that high? I have my 4 inch hibs in the green house still because it has been 53 at night and mid 70's in the day. It has been over 100 degrees in the greenhouse but the plants seem to like it.
Norm

Hi Norm
Some of them do Ok , I won't say great but ok , over here its been 102 deg to 107 for about 2 weeks but it's dry & not humid . I have to water every day and lots of Kontos and the ones that wilt real bad get to stay in the house  ;D . See if they were all smart they would all wilt real bad and they would all get to stay inside haha .
Darren here is a picture of the cutting again later in the day it's Voodoo Queen , very pretty .

First Canary Song bloom

Here's a photo of our daughter Lexie with Secret Heart and Hawaiian Salmon.




Patrick and Donna

Nice pics!

That branch of torch song seems to be a sport, every bloom has looked speckled with flecks of pick.  Definatly more than a color change seen in most sports.

Riptide day two and plant :)   Not really a bush since it flowered so young, but the plant is  very upright. 

Mike that is some tough weather for you and your hibs to have to live with for long stretches.  Great job to all of you to get them to keep blooming and hanging in there.  My hat's off to you all...

Chris those blooms are looking good!

Farmer D

1st High Voltage bloom in a long time since replanting it...

Farmer D

Charlie you can include Scarlet Beauty in the 10" & over club.  This one really is a beauty in quantity and quality...

Farmer D

Darren, all your blooms are amazing!

Arabian Princess today.  Cant get enough of this one!

Have to agree with that, absolutely stunning.
Darren a question I have and I hope it makes sense. You spray your plants a lot, I am not sure but maybe even daily, the question I have is do you put less water [as in the drench method] in the ground or in the pot as a result, is the run off from your spraying enough to feed and water the plants.

I have a good reason for asking, I have got myself in a bit of a pickle by overwatering some of my plants [I only use the drench method], in fact I have 2 or 3 that are actually drowning and will need to be re-potted.

Hi David:
Your question could not have come at a better time as I have learned so much more over the last couple of months regarding watering and spraying my plants.

I know this is a long answer but I hope putting all the info out there helps as many as possible...

Everything has changed for me after I replanted all of my 80+ hibiscus over the last two months.  Aside from being the most exhausted I've ever been in my life this has been well worth it and totally fascinating for me.  

I realized that back in 2010 when I originally got my first 13 plants which were mostly 4"ers the holes I dug were really just for that size.  Basically way too small for when they got bigger (like now) and the heavy saturated clay soil surrounding them just created a clay prison for each plant's roots for future growth.

I noticed this spring that my plants just didn't seem as robust as expected and the leaves yellowed so easily with the slightest bit of watering and loss of leaves from trunk up to at least mid branch told me the roots were having issues supporting the plant size.  In my head I see a proportion of root size to plant size and with my dinky holes and clay soil prisons my plants were out of balance where the roots just couldn't keep up with the growth my plants wanted.

Long story short I dug out a couple to see and sure enough for tall and mature plants some really pathetic rootballs or lack there of.  Just 3 or 4 main roots trying to grow as far away from the plant as possible looking like they're trying to find better soil conditions elsewhere.  No feeder roots or rootballs to the point where a couple of my hibs were actually falling over due to lack of roots to secure them in place.

After seeing this I dug out all planters 1 to 1.5 feet down and put in a bottom layer of cactus mix for drainage and then Ocean Forest soil for all planters and plants.  That was an insane workload!

The replanting is a story in itself as I wouldn't remove the plants completely but very carefully dug around and under the roots best I could with a weeder leaving several main roots intact so the plant would not go into major shock.  Worked out well as I only lost Electric Orange and that was a weird one as the roots were growing like crazy but the plant rotted from somewhere around the trunk above the ground.

After all this I wondered if and how the watering parameters of my plants would change with new soil, better drainage and warmer weather.  Well the results for me is that I no longer have any yellow leaves or loss of leaves due to saturated soil only if I water very carefully.  I can't just go crazy and drench the soil even with all the positive changes.  Maybe that will be less of a factor as the root systems start to aggressively grow out in the next several months but yours are in pots so only so far those roots can go amplifying the water effect.  Also the weather here has been very mild so far with just a handful of days in the 80s so water needs have been mild.

I'm at a point now where if I just spray my plants daily with Supernova (which is the plan) that should be enough to water them aside from a monthly feeding of special blend, supernova and quelant-k.  Right now I have backed off the daily spraying until my soil dries out a little from the automatic watering for three weeks when I was on vacation early June.  So my answer is yes, I can use just the run off from spraying and be fine going forward unless a heatwave hits.

If we ever get a heat wave this summer then I'll be watching very carefully to see how much I should increase the watering.  Again some planters get full sun others don't so it is a case by case basis here.  I have noticed that my porch pot's soil dries out more quickly but that top dry layer can be very deceiving so I use my water meter, temp gauge and a lot of careful observation.  I even bought a roll down shade I can throw up in a hurry for really hot afternoons as my porch faces west.

If you decide to go to spraying daily or close to that the battery powered sprayer is a must.  I went from 3+ hours a day spraying by hand to 30 minutes.  I have a life again!

Farmer D

Thanks Darren, very helpful. I have been massively over watering my plants and its caused me a few problems, I have a decent meter now and will be keeping a close eye.

David I'm glad that was useful.  I still see a really big improvement with the amount of buds when spraying a lot with supernova.  When I got back from being out of town for 3 weeks I felt like I had to make up for not spraying while gone.  The irony is I ended up over watering when you combine daily spraying with my timed sprinkler setup.  What I've ended up doing is attaching elbows and pipe extensions to all of my in-planter sprinkler heads so I can swivel the heads all the way to the edge of each planter and water only the grass which is a thirsty one.  Now spraying daily with supernova is enough for now...



Farmer D

Got my first two really nice Bonnie Lass blooms today too.  The look is one of the softest satin texture when first opening - always stops me in my tracks for closer investigation.


Farmer D

Tahitian Lavender Rainbow shows more promise as you can now start to see the beginnings of a lavender ring separate from the hot pink eye.  This plant was way overwatered even after replanting so I'm surmising as the soil dries out it should really gain a lot of color.  Can't wait to see...

Flickering Flame is a super bloomer now....

Farmer D

Palm Springs has such a strong bush but even it was having issues with over watering.  Now it is just about done losing leaves on it's lower extremities and the rest are greening up again...

Farmer D

Just one more thing Darren, do you spray Kontos or use as a drench? I have just been trying to work out the label and if I am correct as a spray you use about one eighth compared to the drench, with the price of it that's a very big saving, it appears to be the same with Fert, when you spray you don't need so much.

Wow...everyones blooms are so nice....darren as always...your blooms are amazing!!.....I have a some like it hot..and it is growing really well...but no blooms....oh well Im sure it will eventually......here are some of my blooms....lynette

and some more....

and the rest....

David I use it as a drench.  I mix it in my 2 gallon watering can with 2 capfuls of Supernova or even add it to one of my feedings if that is on my schedule that day.  I've been wondering though with the battery powered sprayer I can really get in there and strongly spray under each leaf and everywhere else to wash those guys right off.  So maybe the Kontos might not be needed much at all this year and going forward...we'll see.

Hi John,

I had a devil of a time finding it too.  Here is the link to the online store that carries it.  Not cheap but I really like the extra potassium along with a lot of other good things.

http://catalog.ehgriffith.com/info.php/cPath/40_561/products_id/8838

Farmer D

I really hope T Lavender Rainbow keeps coming along the bush is a super brancher and boy it loves to bloom...

And a giant Valentines Day, actually most of them are now over 9" regularly...

Farmer D

These cut blooms are destined to for vases in the house, I try to pick the ones that bloom in spots no one will see...I know Valentines Day is super reflexed but it now has 4 zones of color - truly beautiful to say the least...

Farmer D

Magic Crystal sure looks magical :)

Just got back from a three week trip and missed a number of first blooms on recently planted cvs including Magic Crystal and Inner Compass. After seeing Darren's Magic Crystal I can't wait for it to pop another bloom.

A few from today: Rocket's Red Glare, Valentine's Day, Herm Geller, and Living Legend.

Erny

A few more: Kinchen's Yellow, Electric Orange, Black Dream, and a grafted plumeria showing four of the grafted cvs in bloom.

Erny welcome back!  You won't be disappointed with Magic Crystal, even on day 2 it is as Chris said "magical".

Farmer D

some more...

Farmer D

and some more...

Farmer D

The amazing Flickering Flame & Chariots of Fire show...

Farmer D

Wow Darren, that Climax looks very special, it makes The Path look dull which it certainly isn't.

Erny I envy your Electric Orange, 4 months me now without a bloom, I have hundreds of buds just falling off my 3 plants, just to hot here for EO I suppose. I will try and grow some cuttings of Saffron and replace 2 of them.

Welcome back, Erny! Just curious, did you leave your garden on a timer for watering and how did it work out?

Great photos the last few days, everyone!!!

Charlie

Thanks Charlie. It's good to be back. Three weeks is the longest we've ever been gone but the drip systems worked perfectly. I have five drip lines to cover all the hibiscus in the ground in front and back yards (about 140 plants). Each line has an EZ-Flo fertilizer injector and works on a timer. Each line runs on a staggered schedule for about 30 minutes each morning. This is the set-up that you recommended and I am grateful for your help and recommendations.
I was worried about the plants I just put in my two new planting areas because many of them are still quite small but they all look great and are growing well. I would recommend the drip system to anyone who has plants in the ground. It's easy to install and sure saves a lot of time and effort.

Erny

Erny that is very interesting information.  My question to you concerning the drip system is how do you adjust for certain planters getting more sun and heat than others that might be more shady and wet?  Do you have one line per planter?  Do you have each timer on the exact same schedule or does that vary depending on the planter and it's microenvironment?  And how did you get your potted plants watered when gone?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions, I'm just thinking through how this would work for me when I go out of town.

Thanks!

Farmer D

Summer Romance has had a rough go of it so no surprise it lacks some color but still a really cool look.

Farmer D

Sounds like a great setup, Erny. I found that when doing a drip to 100 plus hibiscus in our Fallbrook garden, all the plants in the yard benefitted. Our pepper tree grew by about 1/3 the first summer the drip operated and the old palm that had been there for many years suddenly grew and flourished like never before. Neither of these had a dripper directly on it but apparently their roots tapped into the water and fertilizer dripping through the hibiscus roots.

Darren, that Chariots of Fire looks like a garden variety with all those blooms. Quite amazing to see exotic hibiscus blooming as much as many of yours and Erny's do.

Charlie

Darren, thanks for the link for Quelant-K. I ordered it today. The results you are getting speak for themselves. Your blooms have never looked better.

Nice blooms Erny, Darren and John!

I had my first Magic Crystal, then mamma Magic Carpet ride bloomed too.  Moonstruck finishing up the rounds. 

Charlie I want to say COF is an amazing cv but it seems that many of them can become so floriferous if planted in the ground in decent conditions.  So I had this scary thought recently on a comment you made to Erny regarding how it might be possible that growing cvs in the ground you might get much better bushes on ones that were poor when tested indoors.  I wonder how many of the hundreds of plants you've tested in the past that didn't pass your standards might actually grow into decent bushes when in the ground and outdoors...

Just food for thought...

Today I have another first time bloom and I've been waiting ages for this one - True Love.  Definitely lived up to expectations - really pretty!

Farmer D

Thanks John for the compliment.  I like the non added salt and nitrogen factor when getting the extra potassium.  It has helped with depth of color but I must say the new soil also made a big difference in that department too.  Every bit helps as we keep learning more...I roughly followed David's recipe for how much quelant-k he uses and add 2 tablespoons to every 2 gallons along with special blend and supernova before feeding, but not as foliar.

Chris I like the family affair you have going on there - really pretty stuff!

Farmer D

Darren you should really try and use it as a foliar one time [1 tablespoon to 1 gallon] just to see the result, the affect on the leaves is near immediate, I know its not the reason for usuing it but the next day they have a lovely waxy shine to them and look really perked up.

Darren, that Chariots of Fire looks like a garden variety with all those blooms. Quite amazing to see exotic hibiscus blooming as much as many of yours and Erny's do.

Charlie
[/quote]
Charlie it truly is an amazing plant and so easy to grow, a few months ago I was doing a bit of pruning and stuck a C of F cutting in a bit of waste ground I had in a back corner, no preparation, nothing. Yesterday I had my first bloom of it. The corner is a bit dark and what a cracking bloom.

Darren, all my drip lines get the same amount of water, fertilizer, etc. A couple of areas also get some additional water from automated sprinklers a few times per week. Honestly the first settings I put on the systems were pretty arbitrary since I had little to base it on. My intention was to monitor each and make adjustments as needed but since all have done well thus far, I haven't made any changes. But the first three lines have only been running aout a year so I'm reluctant to draw any firm conclusions.
We always have a house sitter when we're away because with seven dogs, one large elderly housecat, and two salt water reef tanks we need someone here full time. So she waters the potted plants.

Charlie, that's an interesting observation about the other plants benefiting from the drip system. I noticed that a climbing rose close to the end of one drip line took off and bloomed like crazy after starting the line. I think it also got sprayed with Supernova as well. In one of my newly planted areas I planted a line of ten plumerias between two rows of hibiscus and there are two gardenias in one of the hibiscus rows. It will be interesting to see how they do over time.


Erny

So far this week I've gotten 6" of rain with more to come.

David that COF is really cool...that is pretty amazing how it did that.

John that is a LOT of rain!  I guess the drought situation in your region is not an issue?

Very surprising and interesting bloom for Splash today.  For the first time ever since I've had it it has a clearly defined eye with rings of color.  I wonder if this is the look going forward as the soil dries out more and the plant hopefully starts to do it's thing.

Farmer D

Darren, that Magic Crystal just leaps out and grabs your attention--magnificent.
Pleased to see my first bloom on Acapulco Gold today. Also Over the Rainbow, and Lady in Waiting.

Erny

The drought is over in my part of Texas.

Wow great blooms today.  Here are mine :)

So pretty, everyone!!

Darren- I love your gerbera daisy shot. I am inspired to go get some! Is it a perennial for you?

Chris, those are some beautiful blooms. I'd love to know the names that go with them or are they all seedlings?
Weird weather for July in southern California today. Very overcast with one brief rain shower. But the overcast really makes the flower colors more vibrant.
Tahitian Princess
Secret Heart
Zelma
Eye of kali
Black Dream
Electric Orange

Erny

A few more:
Living Legend
Love Story
Simple Pleasures
Jazz
Voodoo Magic

And the last few:
Mr. Ace
Erica Nicole
Sun Shower

Wonderful Erny, I love overcast days and wish I had more, your Tahitian Princess and Voodoo Magic are stunning.

Still jealous of your Electric Orange blooms,  at least my EO bush makes a good home to display my daily Creme De Cacao blooms.

Interesting Sherlocks Mystery bloom today, Charlie wrote the other day that extra Potassium can make petaloids appear on cv's, I think it has here.

Hi Denise:  My gerbera daisies are all perennials for me.  They are really a fun addition around my hibs and roses and seem to propagate rather easily on their own.  I would imagine in your neck of the woods they would do quite well there.

Erny and David very nice blooms!  Erny I think our hibs really enjoyed the tropical overcast day here today.  Humid and warm but no rain so no worries on getting unneeded water.

Got my first bloom today of Vin Electrique.  Such a unique looking bloom - very nice!

Farmer D

Here's a shot of my Rainbow Sherbet plant.  I got it as a large 4" plant back in 4/2010 and it is now around 5.5 feet tall.  Note the hole in the middle lacking leaves, this is one way it was telling me too much water as all those leaves yellowed.  As the soil dries out I'll be looking to see baby leaves reappear in their places and get this beauty back to a full bush.  Still a nice one to enjoy!

Farmer D

Acapulco Gold is starting to get back into it's groove after digging up much of the soil around it in May.  It lost a lot of it's leaves but now it is filling up again.  The big change I saw after changing out most of the soil around it was that it started to grow vertically again.  It is somewhere around 6.5 feet tall now and still adding height daily.  Also I've never once pruned it either and it is really doing a great job of adding a lot of side and bottom branches so this cv apparently starts off growing very tall and narrow and then fills out after a couple of years.  Another 4/2010 large 4" purchase.

Farmer D

Splash again with a cool eye zone...

North facing planter greening up.

Love the depth of color on FF!

Farmer D

Your bushes are looking fantastic, Darren. The Palm Springs flowers you have posted lately have also been among the best I've seen of that variety - very bright and clear colors.

Nice relief today, only 98F here briefly after seeing unbelievable 111F for the previous 2 days.

Charlie

Darren, thanks for sharing so many fabulous photos. A real visual feast.

David, I really missed my regular pictorial visits to Shangri-La while on our three week trip (with very spotty internet access.) Be sure to include some plumeria pictures.

Charlie, I had forgotten how hot it gets up there in the summer. Any plans for Open Houses this summer or fall?

Erny

Everyone's blooms look awesome. I ended up with a foot of rain. Looks like the worst is over now.

I received my Maui Masterpiece yesterday and was greeted with a beautiful bloom when I opened the box.

The first two are seedlings,

The third is Stormfront which is a Dupont that hopefully Charlie will have to distribute once I send wood

The fourth is Torch song, more pastel than the other blooms of it but still very pretty.  :)

Today I had Arabian princess, love the interesting colors on that one!

Here is a first bloom on Cherry Glow , wasen't what I thought it would look like , I didn't know it would have sun spots in hot weather looks nice though  . & Tahitian Princess

Wow Mike that Cherry Glow is impressive with the sun spots!  That is an eye catching bloom...

Chris you're right about Arabian Princess, really amazing coloration on that one!

Farmer D

Wow another really impressive Venus Rising bloom, this one I love the long stretches of white and red.

Also Vin Electrique looking awesome on day 2 - again so unique and striking!

Farmer D

1st bloom of the season for Best of Times.  It is a mini but it has a lot of personality, can't wait to see the larger blooms as the plant hopefully progresses.

Farmer D

Chris, thanks for the IDs on your blooms. I really like those two seedlings. I have had Torch Song on my Wish List for some time now. I'm hoping Charlie will have some in the near future.  Also Silver Dragon and Lady in Waiting.

Erny

High Voltage and a 2nd day San Diego Sun

Loving all of the gorgeous technicolor blooms everyone!  :o

Jordan - Thanks for posting Zoey... She's a beauty!
John - You're going to love Maui Masterpiece... Also, we have your drought this summer  :P

My bloom recap for the week:

Angel's Wings
Bienvenue
"Sporty" Belle
Fantasy Charm (9.5" and still stretching)

and the rest...

Ruby Tuesday (opened her first bloom on a Tuesday)  :D
Silver Memories (6 petals, no pads... Hmmm)
Sunshower
The Outdoor Jungle
Some more ducklings (seems late in the season for such young ones)

Deb  ;)

Deb, sorry to hear you are having a drought now. We're dealing with floods now.

First Merci Beaucoup blooms - a Dupont variety

John a foot of rain in one week is crazy!  I know it is a break from the heat but how are your hibs handling it?  

Deb great blooms, quite the variety there and those ducklings are so precious!  I just love your Bienvenue - I hope one day mine can bloom like that.  Mine really hates water so I have to keep curtailing what water it gets.  One day I'll figure out that sweet spot.

Farmer D

Flickering Flame is blowing me away with the dark eyes, really they are just about black now.  Striking is a weak way to describe them when seeing it in person.

Rise and Shine is also coming into it's own now as the white middle zone is really expanding in size.  I just love it, I bet soon there will be as much white as yellow.

Some 3rd day blooms that have done really well...

Farmer D

1st Summer Fun bloom since replanting it and holy smokes = 9 1/2".  It is still reflexed in the photo so maybe later I'll post another.

Farmer D

So many beautiful blooms, so little time to comment. A blanket, WOW to everyone.

Here are some blooms from today:

My first Acapulco Gold, an unnamed flower (lost the tag) ((maybe one can ident it for me)).

Its a wonderful life (a stunning flower)..  and two new hybrids, a cross between cosmic gold and tigerama. Its taken 1-1/2 years to bloom. This is the second plant of that cross, I posted a photo a while ago of the first plant in bloom.

Louis

(http://www.imagesct.com/web/hib-7-14-12/Acapulco.jpg)

(http://www.imagesct.com/web/hib-7-14-12/unknown.jpg)

(http://www.imagesct.com/web/hib-7-14-12/wonderful-1.jpg)

(http://www.imagesct.com/web/hib-7-14-12/wonderful.jpg)

(http://www.imagesct.com/web/hib-7-14-12/cosxtiger.jpg)

(http://www.imagesct.com/web/hib-7-14-12/cos-tiger-1.jpg)

Very nice blooms Louis!  That Acapulco Gold's colors just jump out of the screen.  Sensational!

Here is the unreflexed Summer Fun bloom at a little over 9.5".

Also have a Scarlet Beauty that has been opening all day and it is already over 10".  This is the biggest bloom of any plant I've had to date...

Farmer D

Thanks for showing the big blooms, Darren. Very impressive!

Lou, your bloom of It's a Wonderful Life is superb.

Charlie

Darren, my hibiscus have handled all the rain amazingly well. Just a few miles north of where I live received 18" of rain. That is where all the flooding is occurring.

Hi
Your blooms look great , I have a lot for today .

The first one on the post above is simple pleasure ! here is some more .

Wow Louis, Great IAWL!

Darren, that Scarlet beauty is a knock out!  I am looking forward to seeing giant blooms with spots on Summer fun.

Mike, your plants looks perfect, T. Princess and blue ballerina were looking very colored up considering the hot weather you guys are having!

Wow, I just received another 3" of rain in 2 hours. Now I'm up to 15" since Monday! Crazy weather going on here. So far none of my plants has drowned.

I think you will be fine John, we have torrential rain here and its never caused me a problem, the overwatering problems I have had have been caused by me and not the elements.
I have started to tackle these overwatering problems and you would think my life would be easier now I am watering about 70% less, but its not, I have been checking each plants needs twice a day rather than a blanket watering and it takes ages, hopefully in time it will be worth it.

I have to say that since the photo's have got bigger there have been some beauties from all, but the biggest improvement is with Darren's, not sure if its all down to the computer Darren but the improvement in detail and color now do justice to the profusion, a joy to see.

Our first bloom from Rudolph

That's some kind of rain, Doll. I recall being in Corpus Christi in the late 60's when a storm dumped something like 8 inches of rain in an hour. I found my car a block from where I had parked it, moved by the flood waters and then dropped as they receded. Amazing thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast! I just hope you guys don't get a direct hit from any hurricanes later this year.

Charlie

Charlie, I've lived in Houston for 45 years. I'm still amazed at how quickly a street becomes flooded.

Hi everyone! Everything is looking beautiful!

My plants are doing well...my "old" ones seem to be recovering from the thrips. My new 4-inchers from this Spring all have small buds, so I am looking forward to sharing those sometime soon!

In the meantime...Simple Pleasures just keeps shooting out blooms for me. Here are some shots from my iPhone.

Erny,

I hope you have the chance to get your hands on "Torch Song"  it is a beauty!   Here is one from today :)

Every time you look now you see great pics, Torch Song is so nice and your Simple Pleasures Denise is wow!!!. I noticed yesterday I have buds coming on my Rainbow Sherbert after a big prune a few months back, seeing Johns has reminded me of what I have been missing.

I cut a small Transcendent yesterday and placed it on a Andenium, it looked nice, its only a small bloom for me here but I like it. Pair of High Voltage as well, and Erny you will see a Plumeria with very pale leaves in that photo, bit different than normal, I got it from Thailand.

Yummy blooms everyone!

Still hot, toasty and DRY here in SE Michigan... We're expecting to hit 100º (again) tomorrow  :P

John - love your Rainbow Sherbet!!!
Denise - awesome Simple Pleasures (so bright!)
Chris - beautiful Torch Song  :o
David - great blooms, as always (love those leaves on your plumeria)!

Today's bloomers...

Bienvenue
Ruby Tuesday
Silver Memories
Tahitian Princess

Deb, your hibiscus are doing great in the heat.

David I think it is a combination of getting a newer camera, the bigger pic sizes on the forum and replanting all of my hibs recently with a much reduced watering regime so far.  I'm spoiled with my high resolution mac monitor so to me my pics always looked pretty nice on my end even before but a lot of detail was lost on the smaller pic sizes previously here...


Farmer D

Everyone's blooms look great.

Denise those SPs look so colorful.
Deb those are some stunning shots, Silver Memories is just wonderful.
John your San Diego Sun looks so bright and cheerful especially next to HV.  Any more rain?
Chris that Torch Song is just fab!

Farmer D

a few more...

Farmer D

Whatever the reason Darren wow!!, your Rainbow Sherbert today is stunning,the quality of the foliage is possibly the best I have seen, it looks so healthy. Like the Unforgettable twins as well, all so nice.

Chris that is a real beauty!  Just a fantastic blend of colors for sure...you should start the PNW Hibiscus Nature Reserve and start charging for tours eventually with what you got started there.

Let's see, Bridal Path is finally breaking through and going bezerk.  Her first bloom in a long while and many more to come now...

Something found Magic Crystal good enough to taste before opening.

Scarlet Beauty experiencing her first explosive growth since being planted in 2010.

Farmer D

Vin Electrique is just amazing - gorgeous how the red bleeds into the purple.  This one is shaping up to be a real bloomer too.

Hot Pepper with 9 blooms today, this one has almost as many buds as leaves.

Farmer D

Palm Springs had quads today, each different & pretty in their own way.

And Acapulco Gold against a bright blue sky, for me it doesn't get any better!

Farmer D

I almost forgot this one from Saturday - good thing too as this is a killer bloom shot

Farmer D

Darren, I'm glad you remembered to show the TLM triplets--superb. The whole collection looks great. Ay Caramba, Magic Crystal, and Flickering Flame were especially impressive. I wish I could get the colors to show as well in my photos as you, John, Mike, Deb, etc. Unfortunately I know virtually nothing about photography and cameras--don't even know if the little camera my wife has is any good for this sort of thing. Oh well, here are a few minis. I got my first bloom on Sparkling Water and it instantly became my favorite mini. The first two pictures are day 1 and day 2. Also my first  bloom on Winter Lights.

Erny

Some more:             Cranberry Muffin
                             Magic Crystal
                             Burnt Saffron day 2
                             Sun Shower
                            

My second bloom on Acapulco Gold is much more colorful than the first. Also Sleeping Beauty, California Beauty, and Creole Lady.

Here's one you don't see too often. Double Date is a slow grower. I planted this several years ago and it is now about 3' tall. This is the first time I can remember getting triplets on it. Also Living Legend.

AG and Hot Pepper today.

Fun with Instagram today :)

Erny great blooms!  

Denise it is so true that these awesome hibiscus and art go hand in hand.  I'm sure whoever would get that would be blown away by the blooms.

Farmer D

more...

Farmer D

Venus Rising reflexed after opening and late afternoon...the plant on this thing is starting to take off too.

Farmer D

and finally...

Farmer D

Denise, your Simple Pleasures is a real beauty.

Hi All,

I am a new customer of HVH and I just have to say I have enjoyed looking at your beautiful hibiscus!  I love to garden and during the summer when I am out of school I spend a lot of time with my flowers and plants when I should be preparing for the next school year!  This summer has been no different!  I am now the proud owner of 4 plants from HVH and I am looking forward to when they produce flowers!  I call them my baby hibiscus.  I have learned so much from reading your posts and many of you have inspired me to pay more attention to my hibiscus.  I usually purchase my hibiscus trees from the local nursery who ships them in from Florida (I am in Pawleys Island, South Carolina).  This year (or at least this is the first time I have noticed) my hibiscus trees have produced seeds.  I did some research on the internet and decided to try and grow the seeds.  Well, needless to say...I now have hibiscus seedlings.  I am not sure whether they will ever have any flowers....but I am going to see what they give me.  I am going to try and post some pictures for you to see....and hopefully soon I can post some pictures of my HVH flowers.

1.  HVH Babies (Lila, Cranberry Muffin, Sea of Tranquilty, and Rain Drop)
2. Pink/Yellow Braided Hibiscus Tree
3. My front yard
4.  Presidential Red Hibiscus Bush
5.  Yellow Hibiscus Tree
6. Pink Hibiscus Bush

Regards,
Vicki

Hi All,

And a few more.....

Vicki

Thanks Doll! I am really enjoying SP while the rest of mine catch up :) It blooms so bright and colorful, but fades pretty easily in the sun.

Hi Vicki! Nice pictures! Can't wait to see more.

Another Simple Pleasures instagram...

Vicki welcome to the forum!  Those are some fantastic shots and pretty blooms you have there.  Looks like such a quaint and colorful neighborhood you live in.  We look forward to seeing lots more great pics from you as often as you like.

John that Wild Grape is really a lot of fun, so much going on there with that bloom!

Today I have another first time bloom and this one I was super curious about - Sizzle.  I had a rather large plant last year that I had the talent to actual kill over 6 months and had to get another one on the New Year's order.  

This one is a real quick grower and is sprouting up buds very quickly now.  I really like the bloom so far though it is reflexed still.  I'll see if I can get another pic and the end of the day.  Such fun colors with the fuchsia eye, orangy-red and a orange border.  

Farmer D

WOW! Flickering Flame has the biggest black eye zones yet today so it's a tie...

Farmer D

A couple of blooms reflexed after opening and a then not so reflexed...

Farmer D

sunset courtesy of Hurricane Fabio remnants...

Farmer D

Vicki, welcome to the forum. You will certainly enjoy the plants you get from HVH. I look forward to seeing more pictures of your lovely house and yard.
John, seeing your Wild Grape made me add it to my Wish List. I just got a 4" size so I'll have to wait a bit for blooms.
Darren, the Wheel of Fortune bush is nice. It's hard to show it because it is one of 9 cvs that I planted in a 20' X 5' rectangular space  in front of our porch facing due south when we moved to this house nine years ago. My intention was to let them grow together as a hedge and they have indeed done that which makes it hard to identify individual bushes. The visual effect is interesting because you see several varieties seemingly all mixed together at any given time. I took a few shots today to show you what I mean. The first one shows the mid portion of the hedge which is dominated by WOF--it has the larger leaves. The second is a step back photo to show more of the complete hedge. The third is cropped down to show mainly the WOF although there are branches from Prima Ballerina, Gil Whitton, Fiesta, and Herm Geller poking through as well. The last shot shows a rear view from the porch.

Erny

Got my first bloom on Vin Beaujolais today. Also Hot Pepper, Creole Lady, and Lady in Waiting.

Erny thank you for taking those extra shots for me.  Wow, your bushes are mountains to say the least!!  My goal has been the same as you to have a wall of hibiscus green with blooms all over the place.  Nice to see how it can happen, we've got to visit each other sometime soon...

Your Vin Beaujolais is really impressive.  It looks like it has a darker red eye and then the big red zone.  Mine were lucky enough just to have a lighter red zone but no inner eye.  Maybe that will change now with the new soil regime.  Of all my plants VB suffered the most as I actually moved it so I cut all the roots.  It just now is starting to leaf again...2+ months later.  Last on my get well list is Prosperity, looks like it might be trying to leaf again for a second time.

Here's a few end of day shots, it actually broke 90F here for the first time this year.  Some sidewalk shots and you can see how awesome FF did even in the heat.

Farmer D

Great photos all around! It's nice to see more varieties start blooming. Should be a good show here in southern CA for at least 3-4 months more.

Meanwhile, I've been growing plants indoors so I can get back to hybridizing. Below are 2 of indoor hibiscus with the kind of colors they don't show if in a lot of sun.

Swamp Music - for me, this is at its best, no sun on a freshly opened flower, big too!

Summer Shore - I love the way this one quietly glows, tucked within the fine foliage of this bush.

Charlie

After 13 straight days of rain, we might get a break today.

Its a Wonderful Life:  The blooms have perfect form and it bloomed in pairs!  Charlie what is the cross for this one?  The site page says 5th D as mother and the forum topic says High Voltage and Fantasy Charm, I want to make sure I have it right in my records.  

Silver Dragon, the blooms recently have had a really dark eye, very striking bloom.  Dancing Dragon pollen on those pads :)

Checking my oldest info, I found that It's A Wonderful Life was originally numbered 478F and is Fifth Dimension x Fantasy Charm. No wonder several recent seedlings from IAWLife have been so interesting. Thanks for pointing out the mistake in the cultivar section, its fixed now.

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

Thanks alot for that information!  That does make sense why you are getting interesting banded seedlings.  If it was High Voltage x Fantasy Charm, I would have expected more pink seedlings.  

Have anymore of your IAWL seedlings bloomed for you?  I dusted these pads with Nightmare and Riptide pollen.  :)

I noticed those two really cool seedlings of yours both had Moonstruck in their background so I will try and copy your cross of IAWL x Moonstruck next and eventually when Fly me to the moon opens, pollen will be shared between them too.  

High Voltage and Rainbow Sherbert

John nice mulitple HV blooms - looking lush there!  Any breaks from the rain?

These are yesterday's blooms...

Farmer D

It seems as the parameters have changed to allow only 5 pics per post.  Just checking to make sure...

Farmer D

Admin Note: Nope, it's still 6.

Erny a shot of a several clusters of my Celadine plumeria

Farmer D

Today I had the most striking bloom on a seedling I have been calling "Riptide"  I  hope it is maturing to have more blooms like this!

 

Chris, what a distinctive bloom that Riptide is--looks like a winner.

Darren, I love the colors on your Tahitians. Nice inflorescence on your Celadine. It's the classic plumeria that you see in leis and should have a strong scent. I'll take some plumeria shots for you tomorrow.

A few first time blooms today with pictures of each in sun and shade. African Princess, Inner Compass, and Grand Fiesta.

Erny

A few more:  Magic Crystal, Velvet Illusion.

And Voodoo Magic, Double Date, Kinchen's Yellow, Eye of Kali, and Tahitian Taui.

Today's blooms

Nice, clean white High Voltage, Doll!

Another first bloom on Vin Electrique. This one a lot smaller at 5-6" and slightly reflexed. Pictured in sun and shade.
Fourth is Vin Beaujolais.
Fifth is for Darren and David--Plumeria Sondra B.--white suffused with pink and a small dark gold/yellow center. Also very fragrant.

Erny

A few more:   Pinot Noir--partly shaded
                   Daisy Mae
                   Love Story
                   Grafted plumeria with five of the ten cvs in bloom
                   Plumeria Gloria Schmidt--one of the nicer multi-colored plumerias on the above

                   Plumeria Pompano Pink with Simple Pleasures in background
                   Plumeria Granny Moragne
                   Plumeria Penang Peach that actually has a strong peach scent.

Love those plumeria, Erny. I look forward to seeing more of the multiple varieties grafted on one tree.

Riptide is looking good, Chris.

Very fine photos from everyone!

Charlie

Below is a seedling that continues to beguile with great colors, 6 inch bloom size.

I luv that one charlie....just georgeous....lynette

Wow fantastic bloom shots everyone!  And Charlie that is a very interesting seedling bloom...those purple rays with the grey color zone is really something...

I apologize up front for the boatload of pics I'm about to post.  Haven't been home long enough this weekend to keep up and with the hot weather lots of blooms...

First bloom of Venetian Brick this season, amazing after the plant was completely dead looking a couple of months ago after replanting...

Farmer D

Here's a series of shots of Flickering Flame in the morning and at sunset...

Farmer D

Here's some more morning & afternoon shots...and a day 2 for V Brick.

Farmer D

Here are some bush shots...

My west planter from lft to rt:
Saffron (small little one in front of plumeria), Acapulco Gold, High Voltage, Venetian Brick, Sizzle, Hot Pepper, Valentines Day, Rise and Shine, Vin Beaujolais (stick looking), Crystal Pink (hiding under Celadine Plumeria), Midsummer Night (hiding in corner can't see), Sea of Tranquility (rt of plumeria)

Farmer D

some more early & later shots and day 2s

Farmer D

Multiples...

Farmer D

1st Rodeo Drive off of new plant

Farmer D

Wow, Darren, that's a spectacular group. I particularly like the multiple blooms on varieties like Chariots and Daisy Mae but seeing early/late day blooms is also instructive. Fortunately, most of them look good both ways.

Charlie

Darren, all your blooms are spectacular.

Darren, don't apologize for showing so many photos. No such thing as too many. I enjoyed every bit of it and wish there were more. Your yard shots are great and it is always interesting to see sequential photos throughout the day to show how the blooms change. I just wish I was better at photography. My pictures never seem to look as good as the real thing.

Erny

I am certainly not going to make any friends with my following comment.  However, I think this has to be said, and now is the time. There is indeed such a thing as posting too many photos.

Also, somewhere in the guidelines there is also a mention of only posting photos of HVA plants.

You have to remember Cindy and Charles are paying for the bandwidth and its very expensive. Posting almost 50 photos in an hour by one poster is really not fair to Charlie and Cindy. I understand that Cindy has limited the photo to 5 per post. However, I see that being defeated with multiple posts with 5 photos each.

I run a very popular photo web site and I had to restrict photos to only one a day, it was costing me a fortune.

I am sorry if I am the wet blanket, but try to respect Charles and Cindy, they are paying for this site out of their pockets.

Don't throw any stones at me, please.

Louis

Spectacular, I love the garden shots, I am not a big fan of Daisy Mae but liking it more seeing that picture, and Rodeo Drive, wow!! it looks like its suspended in mid air.
Chariots of Fire has never done that well for me here [certainly compared to yours], but that cutting that I stuck in the waste ground is looking very healthy, its the nearest thing I have to being in the ground, hope I get your profusion Darren.

Louis, no stones here. I'm glad you pointed that out because I had no idea it was costing Charlie and Cindy. I know virtually nothing about computers and web sites and just assumed it was free or nearly so. Speak to me of bandwidth and I think of the space occupied by the orchestra on a stage. I will certainly be more selective with my posts knowing this.

Erny

Charlie - The new seedling bloomers are just gorgeous... especially 11-0425_f0101  :o
Darren - Loving all of your way tasty blooms (awesome color/photos!)
John - Your blooms look dreamy and beautiful (as always)!

ºAmber Suzanne
ºAngel's Wings and friends with some of this year's "babies"
ºFantasy Charm
º"Not Belle" - 3 different branches have bloomed the same flower, so not BDJ or a sport  :'(
ºA new regular visitor to my garden, having a taste of Le Chocolat (there has also been a ruby throated hummer, but she's too shy/fast for photos)

and the rest...

ºRuby Tuesday
ºRudolph... in the rain  :D
ºSilver Memories (opening colors)
ºTahitian Princess
ºTahitian Princess Twins

Deb  ;)

Lovely Deb, I like the idea of putting a bloom in the wine glass, I am having a party in 2 weeks, my daughter is coming over from England and I shall be doing that. Silver Memories is just lovely.

Deb, I wonder what the "not Belle is". Hmmm, big mystery. Cindy thinks it's Sweet Sixteen, a Belle offspring that she has always wanted. I'm not sure what it is.

Lou, I really appreciate the thoughts and your looking out for us. It's true we pay for bandwidth but the HVH website has always been a heavy user of bandwidth since anyone who browses the website transfers many bits of data between the HVH site and their computer as the photos and pages load. We expect this and have lots of bandwidth available for the purpose. We are fortunate to have a good deal with a reliable provider and don't consider this an issue we are concerned about.

Cindy and I are open to hearing opinions regarding the best way for the forum to operate, either publicly or privately. Anyone who wants to can send us email directly or can post online as long as it stays friendly.

I feel like I should share my perspective on forum photos. For a decade or more I sent thousands of hibiscus plants out and never saw them again. I would drive around southern California and never see an exotic hibiscus. Occasionally someone would write or call, and even more rarely send a photo, but for the most part I was just left wondering how they did. We knew we were doing something right since orders have always been strong with many people coming back year after year, yet where were the plants and how were they doing? I just didn't know.

So, now that the forum is going strong I really love seeing all the photos of the hibiscus, and most of all the shots of the gardens and patios and indoor growing situations that people have created. It's deep down satisfying to me to see all these hibs growing wherever they may be and my personal feeling about the photos is "keep em coming". I look at every one that is posted and based on the stats the forum keeps so do a lot of other people.

That has to be the final decider - is the forum a service that hibiscus fanciers enjoy enough to participate in and/or look at? If the answer is yes, then we are on the right track, and that does seem to be the case with the forum.

Charlie

Hi All from South Carolina....

Deb....your Tahitian Princess is just beautiful!  I don't know why but I am really drawn to the blue/purple hibiscus.  My four HVH babies are really growing!  I can't wait to see what they look like when they finally bloom.  

Charlie....thank you for the vote of support on pictures.  You just have no idea how much I have learned (and enjoy seeing) from the pictures....and most of all...it gives me ideas on which ones I want to order the next time.

School starts back for me in less than three weeks and the most I will get to do in the forum is look at the pictures!  Thank you for making each day a blessing of getting to see your beautiful flowers!

Vicki

So many beauties!

 Vicki- I think what it is about those blues is that they are so unique. Not what people typically think of when they picture hibiscus. I had my hands on a Tahitian Princess last Fall but managed to kill it. :(

My plants are doing so well! The ones that were dropping buds due to what I think was thrips have recovered. I have gotten about six beautiful blooms from High Voltage, the last two of which I found to be the best. (Pictured below). Bonnie Lass looks like it might open one tomorrow with lots of healthy buds developing! As usual, Confection Perfection is a slow grower, but looking healthy with nice small, glossy, well-formed leaves. I think it's an attractive plant even though it is very slow-growing.

All of my babies from this Spring are coming along. All but maybe one or two have buds.

Simple Pleasures and Confection Perfection plants.

Very nice Denise, looks like they are doing well for you.

Today:

A very nice Heavy Metal, first bloom for me. I like the dark dark eye alot.  Crossed to IAWL.

IAWL just opening.  The blue shadow is really interesting to me, I crossed this bloom to heavy metal.  With both of these CV's sharing fifth dimension as parents and heavy metal's tendency to intensify the color of its seedlings, I am hoping for some big blooms and nice colors. 

John that Cindy's Heart from yesterday is just breath-taking!  Wow!!

Deb those are all exquisite blooms!  That Silver Memories is one of the best SM I've ever seen.  Cool Dragon Fly shot too - just love them!

Denise that is a great group of shots too!  You got a lot of great color going on there only to get more so once that CP gets going.  It looks great - mine has been slow growing too but my problem now is that it has become big enough where every time my garden gate opens it brushes the plant and the buds eventually get knocked off.  Now that one is a tough fix - wish I could prune the gate.

Hot Pepper stole the show yesterday with 19 open blooms at once.  I told you it has almost as many buds as leaves.  This plant likes it drier but seems to love the supernova too...with the soil replant and less water the blooms have become a lighter orange and the eye has really improved to a middle red and beautiful pink halo.

Farmer D

Scarlet Beauty continues to really impress with bright, rich giant blooms.  My hand is dwarfed.  The plant is really taking off too after being replanted.  Really easy to grow.

Farmer D

I really missed Venetian Brick as it didn't have too many blooms since getting it 10/2010.  The plant was struggling with the bad soil and too much water but now it is a whole different story.

Farmer D

Some more yard and planter shots...

Farmer D

Flickering Flame is just incredible.  Not only is that black eye a killer but it is shiny, waxy looking too.  Just amazing!  Thank you Charlie for such an awesome creation.

Farmer D

Wonderful photos from the three "D"s; Darren, Deb, and Denise.
Darren, it looks like you will have your continuous hedge before too much longer. Flickering Flame just gets better and better.
Had my first bloom on Cherry Glow today--not as bright or as red as I was expecting but hopefully will develop with age. Also a nice Heavy Metal and Simple Pleasures.
A brief followup on Inner Compass that I showed last week. The bloom stayed nice for three days with only a little fading on the third. The bush shows good promise--two stout verticals about three feet tall with lots of new leaves coming all along the stems.

Erny

Charlie – I think Cindy’s right about “Not Belle”... The blooms look the same, except for the color of the pads (Sweet Sixteen has yellow pads, NB has red – Could that be influenced by environment, etc?).  The plant definitely has BDJ/Saffron attributes (upright, strong, fast grower).  I’ll send wood as soon as I see if my recent crosses with her have taken (Fantasy Charm & Amber Suzanne).

David – So happy to hear that you have family coming to visit... Is your grandson coming too?  I saw a photo that you posted on the Forum back in 2010 with him in it - Sooo cute!

Hi Vicki – Welcome to the Forum!  Thanks for admiring Tahitian Princess... She has definitely been enjoying all of the sun & heat we’ve been having here in SE Michigan.    

Thanks Ernie and Darren – You two are such an inspiration!

Speaking of which: I’ve been waiting all day to take and post this photo... I thought for sure that both Ernie and Darren would beat me to it - LOL!  Anyway, here’s my first Inner Compass bloom (and a Sunshower, too).

Deb

Deb,

I think your not Belle looks alot like this one.



Patrick and Donna

Hi Patrick & Donna!

I think so, too... What is the name of the CV in your photo?

Thanks!
Deb

Deb, the question of whether the color of pads that each variety shows can change from flower to flower has come up several times in the past. I once went through the many photos I have looking for examples that might prove the case one way or the other. What I found was that most varieties consistently have staminal pads that are either orange or yellow or less frequently red. They don't change or alternate colors normally. However, I did also find a few varieties, Fifth Dimension being one that I recall, that do show different colored pads. I have no idea if it is environment but it sure could be. I was a bit disappointed when I found a few varieties that varied the pad color because that meant we couldn't use this as a definite criteria for identifying blooms. Ah well....

By the way, nice Inner Compass photo!

And Darren, those are killer Flickering Flame booms and photos just posted. You're getting super color out of them. I cut my 5 gallon stock plants of FF back to a foot tall in January and they have now grown back into beautiful 4 foot high bushes that will soon give up a bunch of wood to make new plants with for next year.

Charlie

Bonnie Lass today

Denise, that is a lovely Bonnie Lass.

Darren, those Scarlet Beauty twins are amazing!

First Hot Southern Night bloom.

John those are all gorgeous. I like the ruffles on California Beauty.

I have a home daycare. Today was one of my daycare kids' last day as he is starting preschool next week. Look what arrived today from his mom. This made my day. :)

Some from today:     Velvet Illusion
                             Living Legend
                             Eye of Kali--also developing a nice bush; upright and well branched
                             Fifth Dimension and twins

Erny

A few more:   African Princess
                   Vin Beaujolais
                   and a few oldies:  Prima Ballerina in sun and shade
                                            Topaz Glory
                                             Fiesta

Romeo fades so fast that it's really hard to capture its opening colors. Also Lady in Waiting and Bessie--a beautiful double whose metallic red-orange color is hard to capture in a picture.

Very nice Denise, let Jake know if he wants to do his gap year in Vietnam it wont be a problem and you can drop a hint to his mum about Heavy Metal.

David- Thank you for making me laugh out loud. You brits are funny :)

Charlie, I was just wondering if you have used Lady in Waiting for hybridizing and if so does it set seed.

Thanks, Patrick

Hi Patrick,

I don't have records of seedlings that were not kept but among those I have kept only Goodbye Girl has Lady In Waiting as a parent, and that was through use of pollen. OTOH, both parents of LIW set seed so it wouldn't surprise me if it did.

Charlie

Great blooms everyone!

The grow area looked very colorful today so I snapped a picture :)

Hello Everyone!

Beautiful blooms! So Jealous!  :D

I have been anxiously awaiting the day when I could start sharing my photos too! I am posting a few that are not from HVH, but I hope nobody minds just this once. I just can't help myself! I promise only HVH's from now on!  :D

AWESOME blooms everyone!  :o

A huge monsoon thunderstorm blew in out of nowhere this afternoon and soaked/shredded most of my outdoor blooms  :'(   Saved the ones I could... Fortunately, no causalties or broken limbs on the plants themselves.

Battered bloom survivors (from today): Tahitian Princess, Tahitian Taui
Inner Compass
Tahitian Princess (pretending to be Amber Suzanne)
Sunshower

Deb  ;)

A nice Wild Grape today

Doll....Wild Grape is a beauty!

Fabulous photos everyone!  I love this time of year.

Deb and Denise a special thank you to you for posting that first pic of Inner Compass which by the way is just stunningly beautiful and the conversation around your Ay Caramba Denise.  Because of your photo I realized that I planted my IC in a bad spot and it was already touching the bottoms of my peach tree branches.  So I had the idea thanks to Denise that my Ay Caramba which was in a real hot afternoon spot that the two should be switched.  It was so meant to be and totally the right move as IC is a huge plant already over 4 ft tall and AC just wanted a shady, cooler spot which will also let it's blooms last way longer without severely fading.  Great stuff!

Well I finally finished all my huge planting projects yesterday so again I apologize for all the pics as I am playing catch up for the week here.  I do my best to edit down the number of pics quite a bit from what I originally took.

Black Dream was off the charts with at least 19 blooms in one day!

Farmer D

more....

Farmer D

got my first spider mites yesterday on the sunniest & hottest potted plant I have - Bridal Path. 

SLIH is just amazing.  The camera shots don't do this one justice.  What I really like is that I planted them in front of my white gate so they totally jump out at you even from across the street.  My plant is now over 7 ft tall and shows no signs of slowing.

Farmer D

For anyone interested TLM opens with a really hot pink rim but it fades quickly once the bloom reflexes.  Still a gorgeous bloom and it is a fun one as they vary constantly.

Farmer D

Darren...I luv all your tahitians...where do you get them???...thanks lynette

Vin Electrique has been blowing me away.  I don't know if the camera does the blooms justice but they are so unique and I love purple so this is a delight.  The plant is a super bloomer too - everyday a new one if not two and it is growing quickly.  

Farmer D

Hey Darren! Glad I could help! It was your photos that inspired me to get Ay Carumba in the first place, so gad I could return the favor! :)

Hi Denise,

Now that is a funny idea!  Maybe that is what my Prosperity plant needs to finally reawaken???  Actually that is a temp & humidity gauge that I was using for T Royal Court as it was a very unhappy camper when first planted there.  I finally figured out it was getting way to much water from that sprinkler head you see.  Once I put a 180 spray head on it has been smooth sailing. 

What is cool about this particular gauge is that it has a second heat sensor with about 8 ft of cord so I have that running to another hot spot planter (in this case T Lavender Mist) and I can check both areas at once.  Boy the Tahitians are picky...

Farmer D

Hi Darren! Actually, Ernie gets credit for posting the first Inner Compass bloom photos (LOVE that CV... Thanks Charlie!).  STUNNING blooms by the way... It's always a treat to see your photos (awesome eye candy)!  :D

Welcome to the forum, Paul. The guideline for photos is not only HVH varieties but also any varieties we sell or grow and are familiar with. That would include your Creole Lady and Voodoo Magic, 2 that we like a lot. In fact, Voodoo Magic is still one of my very favorite brown flowers. I know you have been increasing your collection of hibiscus a lot lately, and I hope they all grow super well in Virginia or West Virginia maybe, don't recall which one.

Thanks for posting.

Charlie

Your garden has really beefed up this year Darren!  Looks like changing out your soil is producing some very nice results. 

Thanks Chris!  Yeah I am really happy with the results so far.  The plants are all doing very well and growing big.

I am already thinking ahead to winter and Jordan brought up a very interesting point in another thread about how some premium soils retain water too well.  I hope that when the cold weather and rains come that I don't see some sort of root fungus epidemics here.  I have been really surprised how much water retention I'm seeing with my new soil.  Works well to not have to water as much though....

Farmer D

Good Morning!

Here's what I was greeted with this morning.

Rainbow Sherbert

Simple Pleasures, Gabriel, and a garden variety friend

Paul - lovely blooms, that Burnt Saffron never disappoints!  Gorgeous!

John the amount of pink on your RS is just amazing.  Really an outstanding bloom - I never get tired of seeing that beauty!

Denise great blooms!  Nice combination of colors and the form on them is outstanding.  You're taking great care of your hibs!

Rodeo Drive's second bloom and what colors...you can really see the influence of Rainbow Christie.

Farmer D

My Cindy's Heart is back and better than ever.  It really needed a better soil environment thus the bush is finally starting to really take off.  I look forward to multiple blooms on her soon...

Farmer D

Bridal Path is also doing really well finally after over 2 years of struggling with her I think I found her sweet spot.  Twins today with good overall growth and budding...

Farmer D

Awesome Palm Springs with such bright colors...

Farmer D

and finally some day 2 and day 3 blooms...nice to see the blooms improving in quality as the plants get stronger and the weather is really to their liking now...

Farmer D

Loving all those awesome bloom photos!  :o

Amber Suzanne
Thanksgiving
White Wings

Deb

Darren, I hope your Prosperity is making a fast recovery. I sure miss those blooms.

Deb, love your Thanksgiving.

Midsummer Night, Bonnie Lass

Thanks everyone for not being lazy like me. I love viewing these post!

Here is one I took today of a rare occurance. My planted Dragon's Breathe blooming. I get maybe 10 blooms for the entire year.

Deb, John, Denise and Len those are picture perfect blooms.  That is a really nice variety of cvs to boot covering all the colors of the spectrum.  I hope many more to come for all of you...

An afternoon shot of Big Oaf so you can see the awesome pink eye with the vivid red petals and gold striping (sorry about the supernova stains).  Quite a unique one...can't wait for the plant to gain some size and see how big the blooms will get.

Farmer D

John I miss my Prosperity blooms too.  Unfortunately my plant has yet to wake up since being replanted in mid June.  I check everyday and it looks like it might be getting ready to do something but then I've been saying that for weeks now.  How is your's doing?  Haven't seen any bloom shots of it since you first got it.

Farmer D

My first Velvet Illusions bloom - thanks Erny for introducing this one to me.

Farmer D

Thanks Charlie! I have been increasing my collection a lot lately! Since I have discovered your website this winter, I have become a bit obsessed!  I live in Morgantown, West Virginia, and the hibiscus have been loving the weather here this summer! (except for the heat wave we had a few weeks back). The winter here is going to be a different story, but I am already forming plans on how to bring them inside and keep them happy until spring by browsing the wealth of information on the forum. Thanks for all the hard work you put into these beautiful hibiscus!

Paul

Denise, I love your planter with the Midsummer Night! The colors really pop in the white planter!

Farmer D - beautiful blooms as always! I'm quite jealous of your collection. Keep up the good work!

Thank you Paul!


Great blooms everyone! Too many standouts to name!

Darren, I'm glad to see that you got Velvet Illusion. You can see why it is aptly named--looks just like rich red velvet. Rodeo Drive is really nice on day 2 as well.
Len, thanks for showing Dragon's Breath. It's good to know that it can grow in the ground here in southern California even if the blooms are infrequent. I've had it on my wish list for some time now.
Beautiful pictures from Deb, Denise, and John as well.
 Also different looks of Voodoo Magic, Over the Rainbow.

Erny

One of the drawbacks to growing hibiscus in the ground is that it is harder to get good pictures. The plants can't be posed the way one can with potted plants and the bright sun really washes out a lot of the color. The plants and the blooms are also being blown about by the wind. That being said, I have to note that Darren seems to get great pictures of his planted hibiscus so my lack of photographic knowledge and skills must be a significant factor as well. For these reasons I started touring the garden at twilight and found that the lack of bright sun and wind at that time gave me a different look at many of the blooms. Here are a few that caught my eye this evening: Night Runner, Velvet Illusion (almost glows in the lower light), and C'est Bon.

Erny

Erny- Awesome Night Runner! And you're so right about lighting. I find I get better shots at twilight than I even do in the daytime shade. A nice overcast morning is always my favorite flower photography lighting though!

Erny you couldn't have better timing about your photo comments.  I was just mowing the lawns trying to finish before it got dark and I just had to stop and take some pics as everything looks so nice once the sun sets. 

I really go out of my way to shade my bloom shots when sunny if I can and you will see my hand behind them often as the morning shots find many of the blooms reflexed since they're newly opened.  It's great to get those super vibrant colors just after opening but that is if one is available to be there...so sunset is a great time.

I also look to see if I can incorporate any interesting background stuff to liven up my shots.  I try to plant as much colorful things as I can in the hopes that when taking pics it just adds to the beauty.  I also think about the color of backgrounds before planting a particular cv.  For example SLIH got to be in front of my white gate - talk about perfect contrasting background to bring out that amazing bloom color!

Also all of my purple and lavender blooms are in shady spots since they fade so fast in the sun (except poor TLM - I had to put it in a showcase spot).  Also sunset shots bring out different colors in the blooms with the changing sky color and the bushes look much more lush and darker green.  Most ugly leaves seem to get drowned out with the lower lighting conditions.

My two cents for what it's worth...

Farmer D

Wow I must say Big Oaf is really looking fantastic.  This latest bloom is just gorgeous.  My BO had been struggling with too much water but seems to want it now with the constant warmer temps.  Again the colors combination is really interesting and fun - great job Charlie on this one as well...

Farmer D

True Love decided to bloom at the end of the day so not fully opened yet but looking really pretty...

Farmer D

sorry one more - I just love the amount of white on R&S...you can see it really well at twilight.

Farmer D

Hi Charlie,

Just wanted to let you that the order you sent us last week just arrived today, the plant looked great not stressed at all, for some reason it was delayed in Indiana over the weekend.  You must do a great job at packing because it looked great for spending all that time in a box.


Thanks, Patrick

Glad to hear that they were OK. This happens sometimes so we wet them as much as possible and use the plastic bags around the pots to conserve moisture.

Charlie

True Love all opened up this morning - a real nice blend of colors...

Farmer D

Here are a few shots of my newest planter on the north side of my garage.  It will be in the shade for most of the year (not currently) so I selected darker colored bloomers to take advantage of the low fading factor.

Lft:Tahitian Taui, behind it small crooked stick is Black Dragon, rt to pink Vinka is Night Fire (small), other side of big Guava tree is Velvet Illusion, rt side of and behind gauva tree trunk is the tall and lankyish 5th Dimension, red blooming one is Velvet Illsuion, next to it is Magic Crystal, behind it is Venus Rising, and on the rt corner is Big Oaf with Tradewinds behind the smaller tree which is a yellow guava.

Farmer D

Here is my bloom for the day; 'Sweet Pink'. I notice it is temporarily sold out in the store. It shore is purty! Doesn't like the sun however, I am going to relocate it to a shadier location.

T Royal Court and Bonnie Lass together  - what a pair of giants

Farmer D

Farmer D your yard looks like paradise! Thanks for sharing.  8)

Darren - I agree!  Can I pretend I'm a hibiscus and come hang out in your yard? ;D
John - Beautiful blooms, as always!
Denise - LOVE your Midsummer Night planter & Bonnie Lass  ;)
Ernie - Awesome!
Geneva - Lovely Sweet Pink... Welcome to the Forum!

My bloomers...

Over the Rainbow
Janys (in the sun)
Ruby Tuesday
"Not Belle"

and the rest...

Amber Suzanne
Tahitian Princess
Janys (in the shade)
Group shot - Japanese beetles had a BIG lunch on Tahitian Princess... I don't know whether to have them charged with a heinous crime or commend them on their good taste  :'(

Deb

Deb, lovely photos--your Over the Rainbow is an absolute knockout!
Geneva, thank you for showing us that Sweet Pink is aptly named.
Darren, great yard shots and your new planter looks great.
A few from today:  Vin Electrique--reflexed in AM; flatter in PM with a little fading.
                          Cranberry Muffin
                          City Slicker

Erny

A few more:   Fifth Dimension
                   Jazz--the bright orange just jumps out at you at sunset
                  

Geneva I love your bloom pic.  That is a really delicate and warm pink color.  Keep them pics coming!

Deb just beautiful blooms.  Ruby Tuesday and Over the Rainbow are gorgeous!

Erny wonderful shots there.  You're right on about Jazz, super orange fun!  Isn't Vin Electrique a great bloom.  As it fades it seems to stay just as pretty in a different way.

Is it me or have we always had the ability to click on a pic posted here to enlarge it and then you get another +cursor that lets you super enlarge the pic if the person has downloaded close to the 300kb max if that is still the max (I just saw a message that the max is now 400kb)?  I never enlarge my own pics but I was checking something on my SOT plant post and holy smokes the degree to which the second enlargement zoomed in was astounding...

It was bigger than the original pic on my mac.  If this was always the case I got lucky as I always keep these uploaded pics just under 300kb and if possible would love it if any of you could do that too.  I totally understand if based on computer and internet connection constraints but WOW that was a nice surprise!  I'll start saving my pics to just under 400 kb going forward if this is the case.

Here is a few from today I didn't share for fun of enlarging...

Farmer D

Darren, I don't know what to make of this feature. It works on your posted photos but if you scroll down to Deb's most recent it doesn't work even though her photos are almost to the limit of 400KB. The super close-up is neat when it works. I'm viewing this on a Mac with Safari my browser, not sure if any of that makes a difference.

Charlie

That feature has always been there for me. It simply allows you to see the full size. Some of Darren's pics are really large. It works on Kristen's also since hers also are usually larger in size. It is not the file size but the resolution size.

Thanks Deb! Great collection you've got! I especially love Tahitian Princess!

Doll, I think you are right. It doesn't work with either Erny's or Debs and they are about the same resolution. Somebody can probably figure out the resolution that is needed for it to kick in.

Charlie

Charlie, I think it will depend on the screen resolution of your monitor. You can disable the automatic resizing of the pic when you click on it in firefox:

Firefox has a configuration setting for that. To make the change enter about:config in the Firefox address bar. First time users need to click the I’ll be careful button.

Enter the parameter browser.enable_automatic_image_resizing in the filter list and double-click it to change the value from true to false. Firefox will dynamically resize images if the value is set to true. A value of false will show the images always in their original size regardless of the browser window size.