Time for Magic

[helixturnhelix]

I am excited I was able to FINALLY able grab this one.  How similar is this cv to fifth dimension, other than the coloration?  I remember you saying that fifth dimension has a open and not very full bush, I hope Time for magic doesnt share this trait.   

[Charlie]

You deserve it!  Cindy tells me that you got it out from under 2 people she notified that were ahead of you on the waiting list. Hey, you snooze you lose, right? Anyway, I'm glad you got it. Both plants of it that went on the store are well branched but still sort of small - nicely budded up though.

It is similar to Fifth Dimension in that both make thinner wood. Fifth Dimension wants to grow tall and slender while Time For Magic tends toward a fuller and rounder shape. Pruning can shape either of them closer to how you want them.

Attached is a photo taken 10 years ago of the first couple of Time For Magic plants that were "saved" and grown from wood sent to me by Tom Miller who hybridized it in Florida and then lost the original. You can make out the plant to the right of the flower best for seeing its shape.

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

 I got lucky I guess.  I was doing my daily browse on what you have available and I saw it.  My apartment is already starting to get crowded lol.  I think I might have to hold off until the store opens again in the spring, (crossing fingers for creme de la creme) but we will see...  It seems as though my hibiscus are my only source of enjoyment these days, its nice to have something beautiful to look at after spending 10 hrs in lab :-/  

Also it seems as though this one usually blooms as a cup and sauser, or is this a cool weather picture?

[Charlie]

Cindy says she would like to see your new setup whenever you get around to taking photos of the plants and the windows or wherever you are able to put them. Me, too!

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Lol,

I just snapped some quick pics on my phone. 

So the first picture is in my bedroom, the big one is Acapulco Gold, a recently pruned Belle du Jour, and my new Dragons breath.

Next is Saffron, looking like its ready to send buds up after I pruned it two months ago

My table with black dragon and in the corner is Burnished Gold (should have wood to send in the spring)

Lonely Rosalind in the living room

Finally my porch, with all my four inchers from this year that ive pruned twice already, they are branching like crazy

Order from top: Wild Dream, Rockets red glare, Heaven Scent, Living Legend, Dragon Heart, Sunkissed Blonde, Illuminati, Bonnie Lass and Flickering Flame.

In about three weeks I was going to squeeze all my young plants on the windowsill in my bedroom.  I will post pics when once that happens. 

[helixturnhelix]

Oh and on the stand in the two red pots are Blues Man and California Fiesta (a friends hybrid)

[Darkhorse]

Aw Chris, it sucks that you've had to give up some of your plants when you moved.  Can you take any of your cvs to lab?  Curious... what are you researching?

[helixturnhelix]

Yah it was sad parting with my plants, but the have good homes Plus I can always get cuttings of them later.  I am going to bring some to lab as soon as I pick one.  Luckily the labs are facing east, so there is plenty of direct sun:)  Right now I am doing rotations, trying to figure it out what I want to study, but I am currently doing some virus research.

[Charlie]

Hi Chris,

Looks like an excellent set up with ample windows for sunlight. My original web master Yvonne, who lives in Sweden and grows all her hibiscus indoors, has good windows but tells me that what she has to watch out for in front of her windows is cold drafts. She says her hibiscus hate cold drafts but if she is able to keep them out of the drafts the plants do well. Her apartment included utilities - must be a Swedish thing - so she was able to keep it as warm as she wanted and of course her hibs like that. Light is her problem but I bet Colorado has a lot more sunshine than Sweden in the winter. She once told me that it was a mystery to her how dark it was a lot of the time and then when she flew back for a visit here she noticed that as the plane descended it passed through 5 layers of clouds!

Anyway, it's great to see your healthy plants that seem to have recovered nicely from the heat stress in your car when you moved. I look forward to seeing lots of blooms from them next summer!

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Hi Charlie,

Luckily it is very sunny here, very interesting weather.  Sunny days till around 3 and thunderstorms.  Its like clockwork.  I think that I will get some very nice winter blooming in these conditions.  Quite a few are budding up after dropping all their buds when I first got here. 

[helixturnhelix]

LOL you weren't kidding they are kinda small 6 inchers.  For a small plant it sure has alot of buds though!  I also want to note that it seems as though this cv has a bunch of trichromes, so the leaves are pretty velvety.   

[Charlie]

Trichromes, eh? The leaves definitely are more "furry" than most hibiscus. Could you explain more about the trichromes? A google search brings up a lot of cannabis growing sites - apparently a lot of sticky hairs are valued by pot growers. Trichromes are a type of hair found on leaves, right? I wonder why hibiscus would have developed these at some point in their evolution...

This also reminds me that visitors to the greenhouse when it is full of larger bushes (before I take cuttings) will sometimes comment that they feel an itchiness on their arms from contacting the plants. I don't have that experience but more than one person has noted it in the past. Something on the leaf surface, I suppose, that transfers to their skin.

Thanks,

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Hi Charlie,

Usually trichromes serve some sort of protection against the environment.  Usually they deter predators or more often offer protection from the sun.  Im sure many people have seen fuzzy succulents that are white or grey.  They are fuzzy and these colors because of all the trichromes on the leaves which serve to shade the leaves under those structures from the intense desert sun.  The light color of these trichromes also reflects a certain amount of sunlight.  It was really surprising to see that TFM had many more than my other hibs.  I wonder if it also tolerates more sun than some of these other hybrids because it has these extra trichromes?  Alas a question to be answered another day...

[Charlie]

That's interesting. Thanks for the explanation.

I suspect that Time For Magic has rarely if ever been tested for its ability to withstand more sunlight because the flowers of Time For Magic are a lot like its parent Fifth Dimensions and fade more quickly in strong sunlight. The opening colors of Time For Magic can be spectacular and keeping them out of strong light preserves the color for longer.

I don't yet have all the hibiscus species that are cross compatible with each other but the ones I do have do not display this trait of having more trichromes. One day we will find where it comes from.

Charlie