Favorite Double

[Denise]

Lately I am being drawn to doubles. I don't see a lot of them in the Flower Photo of the Day section. Who has doubles in their collection? Which is your favorite and why? Charlie, do you have a favorite or a most highly recommended?

Thanks!

[helixturnhelix]

Hey Denise,

I havent grown too many doubles, but my favorite double CV is Heaven's Scent.  It has a nice full bush and nice bright ruffly flowers.  Its nice also because it blooms as both a double and single depending on the weather, so you can have both!  It is also occasionally scented. 

Another CV that is like this is Love Story, great bloom and awesome bush.  Both these CVs get their great bush and bloom from their parent Rosalind, which is another great one.  Rosalind is an awesome CV, but unfortunately must be grafted so there aren't too many of them around.  There are several other CVs that are doubles which share Rosalind as a parent and are really nice others that come to mind:  Fat Actress (red/orange), First Lady (bright pink) Las Vegas.

There is another group of nice doubles which come from Stormy Days, include Lady in Waiting and Her Majesty. 

The newest batch of doubles released this and last year mostly shared Standing Ovation as their parent, this gave large orange and yellow type blooms, Samba Dancer, Bedazzled, Hot and Spicy. 

I also asked a similar question a while back and you can find the post here: http://www.hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com/forum/index.php/topic,101.0.html

Finally there is one double that I am looking forward to being released that Charlie nicknamed double Vin E, which I think was Midnight Blue x Allure.  That one is one to look out for!

Hope this helps

[Denise]

Very helpful! Thank you. The new one you mentioned sounds exciting too.

[roadrunner]

Hi Denise,

I'd have to say my two personal favorite doubles are Rosalind and Heaven Scent. I love the color of both of course, but it's their bloom form that puts them at the top of the list of the ones I have. They've also been reliable bloomers for me. Unfortunately I needed to replace both which were victims of bad spider mite infestations so I don't have any recent pics.

I do have some pics of two other doubles Brazen and Lady in Waiting that I'll post when I get them downloaded from my camera.

dave

[Doll]

Dave, do you still have First Lady? I noticed from an old post you had it back in 2009. Just curious how it has performed. I just recently purchased a 4" one.

[roadrunner]

Hi Doll,
I still have First Lady. It's growing in a 10" pot, probably should be moved up a size. For me it's been a vigorous bush that doesn't want to branch very much. That could be my fault. I'm still trying to get this prunning technique down.
Here in southeast AZ it has been a bud dropper during our hot and very low humidity months of May and June. With your much higher humidity that may not be as bad a problem. It does better once our thunderstorm season arrives with lower temperatures and higher humidity. The best blooms though for me are when it's cooler, especially fall and during the winter inside the house where I've had some massive blooms that lasted 4 to 5 days. It is too large to bring in the house anymore so it's part of the daily greenhouse to laundry room shuffle depending how cold it is. It has some big buds and if they don't fall off with all the moving around I'll post some pics.

dave

[Denise]

Thanks again for all of the input. There really are some gorgeous choices. I'd love to see some pics if you get around to it