Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

Black Dragon   7-9 inch flowers
Great color, red set off by a close-to-black color
Bush not so great but adequate and flowers a lot
Offspring of Dragon's Breath - Gerlich hybrid

I wanted to get this one but missed my chance last year, should have got it when I first saw it online but when I went back they were gone. This year I'm going to get one, hopefully there will be some big ones because I like to start with well established plants and not the little ones.

But I do have a question and concern. How hard is it to grow? I heard that both Black Dragon and Dragon's Breath are harder to keep alive. Does anyone have experience with these. Also which should I get? I like them both, but some of the photos I've seen of Black Dragon are really dramatic with the blackish red and white color.

Thanks in advance for any opinions?

Hi,
I have a Black Dragon I got a couple years ago and I haven't regretted having to take special care of it one bit! I took the warnings of it being hard to take care of seriously and it did take me a while to get it to a place where it was happy here. It didn't like where I had it first and promptly lost all it's leaves, so I moved it from a North exposure, (I'm in SoCal), to the shade of a South exposure. I had to slowly introduce it into a full sun location, very slowly, like a bit more sun every week or 2. The whole time I went thru getting it into full sun I had to figure out how much it liked to be watered!! It doesn't like a whole lot of water, I can only get away with watering it every other day in the summer and just plain ignoring it during the winter when I pretty much let Mother Nature water it.
BUT...
I LOVE IT!! I continues to be one of my favorites of all times. It is more red during the colder months, but very dark, nearly black with white during the summer. This was it's second summer and it grew like crazy and bloomed continually. The bush isn't tall, more low and branched out, but the blooming is great and will not disappoint one bit!! I keep mine in a huge pot so I can run it inside when there is a danger of frost.
I recommend this one very highly, I got lucky getting it and have not seen it since, but if you get the chance, jump on it. It will take work and dedication on your part to keep it happy and find it a home in your area, but once you do, you will never regret it!
Good luck!..Lisa

Nice to hear from someone who grows Black Dragon. Thanks, Lisa!

I've been pestering Charles and Cindy about Black Dragon and have learned that there will be some six inch pots of it available for reserving in January when their store opens for next year. Might be bigger ones, too, but not many they say. I'm going to see if I can get one and hopefully it will grow strong over summer. I can't wait to see the flowers in person! It's really good advice about introducing it to sun carefully, and not watering too much. I think I will keep it in a pot, too, so I can move it around and find the right spot for it. I like planting them in my garden but potted ones have advantages also. Thanks again for the advice.

Hi, everybody,

My experience with Black Dragon is not so good as Lisa's. It is a year and a half old plant, still rather small, bush very open, which is not necessarily a serious fault, but in the case of Black Dragon, with big blooms laterally positioned, the blooms are often downward looking, which I do not like at all. I pick them for a flower arrangement, but I do prefer looking  at my blooms on my plants.

I am not giving it up, the color is too precious. This spring I will try to prune it in a way to incite upward branches, and see what I will get. It is still a young plant, I will give it more chance.

Nina, zone 9b.

Nina,
Definatly try staking up the branches. I have sticks all through mine holding it up here and there and moving them to more desirable locations. I never toss any of the little bamboo sticks used to ship the flowers in, those make perfect stakes to throw in here and there. I found some velcro on a roll for holding plants to stakes, between those and the bamboo, I keep my Black Dragon looking better. When it gets new leaves I will post a picture of it, one sneeky frost that wasn't predicted a couple of weeks ago caught my flowers unprotected outside. Not a bad enough frost to kill anything but the leaves, but all my prescious plants sure look like crap right now! Good luck!
Lisa

Hey charlie,

when do you think you will have this variety back in stock? 

Hi Kris,

As you probably noticed, Black Dragon sells out quickly despite its somewhat tricky bush. Since it is easy to have one die on you I prefer to ship them in 6" pots or larger so they are stronger and also are ready to bloom.

There are more in the pipeline now so I am guessing June or July they will be ready. I think we will have a few each month from June til the end of the season, but the best way to get one of those is to be sure Cindy has you on the Waiting List form for this variety. The e-mail form is here on the HVH site - http://www.hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com/pages/waitinglist.htm

Charlie

I am feeling pretty confident atm in my hibiscus growing ability, with all my plants sending out new shoots with this warm sunny weather.  I am sure that black dragon will give me the reward and challenge I think i am ready for.  I just hope I can get one.  I am also very excited about some of your new cultivars the are scheduled to be released this year. 

-Kris

My Black Dragon today with a bunch of blooms! I am finding that this season, my Black Dragon is behaving just like all my other varieties and wants to be watered daily! Surprise, surprise, it now acts normal!
Lisa

Lisa that plant looks great.  I hope mine grows as nice as yours :)

Yep this picture REALLY makes me want to get a Black Dragon!

This may be out there, but here it goes.  Black Dragon has a more spreading low to the ground habit and Lisa has shown a beautiful example of this.  Hibiscus are meant to be bushes and upright and lush bushes are desired over the low and more sprawling one Black Dragon has.  The way lisa's plant drapes over the side of the very large pot it is in makes me wonder if this would be a good variety to grow in an hanging basket.  Why try to fight the plants natural growth habit when you can embrace it in this form.  Especially since if you are running out of room (like me) growing with a low, spreading, growth habit as hanging plants allows you to enjoy the flower, but have to worry less about staking the bush and forcing it upright, in addition to saving space for the more upright varieties.  Look at roses, there are now carpet roses in addition to normal bushes and these plants also make great hanging baskets.  Thought it might be cool to see if there are low growing hibiscus varieties, which would be undesirable as landscape plant, and grow them as hanging plants.  Just an idea that I will be playing with soon :)

Hey Chris,

Black Dragon as a hanging basket would be a good idea, I think. Another one that would make a good hanging basket and is a difficult one to grow into an upright bush is Night Runner. Great colors on a terrible bush but as a hanging basket might be OK, particularly since the flowers often hang downward.

Charlie

Night runner has an amazing flower and given your description would make a good hanging basket plant.  I've also read Byron Metts doesn't have the best bush either.

Hi, Charlie,

My Night Runner does have downward blooms, but it has an extremely upward branches...

Back to the topic, my Black Dragon, after a pruning this spring, makes much better blooms, not looking downward.

Nina, your black dragon is spectacular!  Mine is quite unhappy after its move, with all its leaves turning yellow.  I am just trying to leave it alone and I am hoping it will rebound!

The leaves got fried in the box in the car, right? Unless the live wood was damaged it should drop those yellow leaves and grow new ones soon. Personally, I remove the yellow leaves because they are not contributing much if anything and I can't stand looking at them. Good luck!

Charlie

I already removed all the yellow leaves, I dont like the the way they look either!  Im hoping to see new growth in a few weeks. 

Charlie are any of these on the way for next year?

Yes, Black Dragon and Night Runner will be back next year. I held back a dozen or so Night Runner plants in 6 inch pots this year because the bushes were so terrible I couldn't bring myself to ship them but I am hoping that with pruning and maturity they will be acceptable or maybe even decent by next spring. We shall see.

Charlie

cool I was thinking about getting night runner

Oh, good.  I lost my Night Runner plant and have been wanting another.  I saw it bloom a couple of times before it died, though.  Amazing colors when I kneeled down to look at them!! lol

Interesting. My Night Runner has a nice, upright bush, but blooms are awful, either totally downward or lateral but deformed.

I re-potted my Black Dragon this year into a taller pot since it's branches nearly hit the ground last year. Surprise, surprise this year, all but 2 of it's branches are growing upward!
Lisa

Lisa, it sure looks pretty at this stage. Please show it again in late October so we can see how the growth went during the summer. I bet you'll get a lot of blooms on it this fall!

Charlie

Yes Lisa... please show it when it has a ton of blooms!  My BD is a pathetic little thing at the moment.  Needs a good pruning and staking up.

I will ! It's only started to bloom and it's reds are so dark this year, they are just beautiful! I don't know what it is in particular this season, but everything is growing like crazy, it's only July and I'm going to have to re-poy nearly all my new plants, it's a good year!
Lisa

Lisa, that is an extremely nice bush of BD!!!! A good pruning can make miracles!

I'll throw a few Black Dragon bloom pics here as mine is starting to get going.  I see plenty of new branch growth so that is encouraging on a little 1 foot tall stick.

Farmer D