Thunder Egg

[Charlie]

Good info, Gil, and great photo!

Charlie

[DavidU]

Kyle - Thanks for the nice compliment back on 12/26 and sorry for the delayed reply!  These beautiful flowers sure would make for exquisite artwork! Your TE plant is especially beautiful with the selective pruning you have done.  Mine is getting a bit leggy, so I should prune it this spring before I bring the plant back outside.  I'd love to see some updated photos of your plant in the near future.

Gil - really nice bloom from the end of last year!  By the way, I saw some of your driveway shots online and your potted plants look amazing out there - great job!

Here's today's thunder egg bloom, again indoors under the T5's.  This shot shows a bloom creeping out from right under the light fixture!  It really is amazing how much gold spotting this cv seems to get under the artificial lighting.

[Kyle]

David,
My Thunder Egg has gone through some big changes since Oct and I'm not done with it yet.   I regret selective pruning it over summer and this is why.     I don't have room for gigantic bushes.   I love the foliage on Thunder Egg but I'm not growing Hibiscus for the foliage.   The bush grew so big no light was getting at the bottom.   I did manage to grow this amazing rootstock on what was a 4" baby.    Since I pruned it may,june,july and early Aug. I lost primary month for blooming where I live.  By the time my T.E. bloomed it was beginning to shut down as the winter solstice was approaching fast with nights dropping in the 40's and barely making it out of the 50's during the day.    Here is what my Thunder Egg looks like now.    1 more prune to go and its' off to bloom for the summer solstice because I want to see blue, brown, and gold flowers this year!!

Gil I must say all the Thunder Egg flowers I see in FL look similar and I can't wait to see yours as we approach spring/summer.   The foliage grows so different in FL from what I see.      Under no circumstance will I water a wilting plant to perk it back up only unless the soil is bone dry.    I can't be home to do that every day when it's hot and sunny.   They need to build up resistance to heat and sun on their own and not rely on me.    I make mine wilt it out because after a few hours it will perk up on it's own without water.     I wait until evening or night to water it or after it perks up on it's own.   

Thank you everyone for posting your comments and photos of Thunder Egg.   I am begging to learn about this mysterious cultivar. 
Kyle
   

[DavidU]

Your TE looks healthy and poised for plenty of awesome blooms this summer, Kyle.  As mine has been getting a bit leggy this winter under the T5's, I plan on pruning a bit next week and hope to have mine ready to burst this summer as well.  I'm excited to see the flowers change in colors once I able able to get her outdoors.

[DavidU]

Some recent Thunder Egg photos since I've moved this CV back outdoors for the summer. I love how varied conditions impact the flower on this CV.

[Kyle]

Thunder Egg 8-30-15 6pm

[Kyle]

A little selective pruning over the summer directed some energy to the dormant growth at the bottom of the bush that you see here.   This is the time of year my outdoor hibiscus come back inside for the winter and get pruned.

For the 2nd summer, the bush grew tall with long upright branches fanning out from the main stem.
I used hack saw to cut down the main stem since it was so thick.

End of season 2

Kyle

 




   

[Kyle]

Thunder Egg in the morning as a houseplant Nov 2016.
Responded really well to being a houseplant after a hot and sunny summer outside. 
This year a deer did the pruning for me in early summer.

[Cindy]

Excellent color for being indoors!