Bonnie Lass

[Charlie]

Bonnie Lass is one of our newest varieties. It is the offspring of the well known Bonnie B, which can be seen in the colors and size of the flower. Bonnie Lass is brighter and redder than the bronzier Bonnie B, but in warm weather has all the size and beautiful form that Bonnie B has. It is one of my favorite flowers right now (though it's hard to have favorites with so many beauties around) due to the fancy form and great color and big 8" size. The complaint people had about Bonnie B was that she did not bloom well in hotter weather, but Bonnie Lass has shown no problem with normal hot summer days and blooms prolifically most of the time. In cooler weather the flowers are not as spectacular but are still pretty and who complains about cool weather flowers anyway?

Bonnie Lass has deep dark green leaves and is a medium vigorous grower. The flowers are well presented on the bush, no problems with seeing them.

Bonnie Lass is highly recommended for the experienced grower, get one if you can!

Hibiscus dreamin' once again,

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

I see buds on my Bonnie Lass!  I really like the bush on this one, mine is very full and the lime green leaves with dark stems is a really nice contrast.  It is not too fast of a grower for me, but fast enough so you can actually track it progress.  Overall I really like it, and I know I will like it more when it blooms.  I think that if you try this one, you will not be disappointed

[Charlie]

That's nice to hear! I'm pretty sure you will like the blooms when they start coming. Here is another photo of Bonnie Lass.

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Wow charlie, I really like that bloom, I look forward to mine blooming

[roadrunner]

Bonnie Lass from this week on a young plant. I'm loving this one.

dave

[Charlie]

I'm glad you like Bonnie Lass, Dave, but just wait a year or so! It seems to reach its full potential on older, larger plants. We had a 10 inch one in the greenhouse yesterday on a 3 year old plant in a 5 gallon pot.

Charlie

[Charlie]

Here is another photo of a bush of Bonnie Lass blooming June, 2010. There are 2 second day blooms, one first day bloom still expanding, and the tip of a huge bud can be seen just behind one of the open flowers. We shipped a lot of 4 inch pots of Bonnie Lass this spring, which should start blooming in July in many locations. The older this variety gets the better it seems to do. That's fairly common, of course, and a lot better than peaking in the first year and going down hill from there!

Charlie

[davidwood]

Wow!!! very strong looking bush,have you noticed how the majority of the leaves are pointing upwards and at the same angle as the blooms.

[helixturnhelix]

Still waiting for my Bonnie Lass to bloom again, another plant that I love

[farmer d]

I have been very pleased with my Bonnie Lass as it has grown quickly and was the first of 13 baby plants to bloom in the dead of summer.

I did have one question regarding BL.  It is in a spot that gets sun mid day till late afternoon.  I have five other HVH plants along the same planter in the same conditions.  The difference is that BL keeps turning about 4 or 5 leaves yellow continuously while all the other plants are perfectly green all year through.

I checked several times with a magnifying glass for spider mites - nothing.  It's the plant on the right with the yellow leaves.

Maybe it's just me being overly picky.

Farmer D

Is it unusual for one plant to just be a lot more sensitive to water than others for no reason in particular?

[Doll]

If it's not an insect problem maybe give it a dose of chelated iron and magnesium.

[Charlie]

D, your bushes have a very nice quality about them. Dense bushes, lots of stems and leaves, very strong and healthy looking. Whatever you're doing they seem to like. Bonnie Lass is sensitive for me in the greenhouse. I think the leaves would stay greener with a little more shade but unless there are mites involved I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Charlie

[farmer d]

A long overdue reply for my Bonnie Lass.  Unfortunately it turned it that my plant did have spider mites and eventually lost all it's leaves.  The good news is that this year BL has made a full comeback and is growing and blooming like nothing happened last year.

My plant has been a fast grower and has been producing a lot of buds too.  The plant shape is a little more open with less foliage than some of my others like Rainbow Sherbet or Flickering Flame but the overall shape is very nice and it has good height too.

I really like the blooms a lot.  They are very pretty and always rather large averaging around 8".  When I inspect the blooms they just seem so happy and pleasant.  I always look forward to checking out my Bonnie Lass and minus the spider mites last year it is a really easy plant to grow.

Farmer D

[farmer d]

Farmer D

[farmer d]

Updated plant photo - today it had it's first quads all of which were large and really pretty.  

It is hard to capture how pretty the blooms are.  The red has a salmonish hue to it, very clean and lush as it nicely fades into the creamy yellow outer part of the bloom.  The blooms are always of great form and large size and usually one every day minimum.

Farmer D

[Charlie]

Thanks for that update, Farmer D. It would be hard for me to explain how valuable such feedback is for our program. We've sent thousands of hibiscus out into the great beyond and never know what happens to them or how they do. Until the forum we had to trust that the people who order more year after year must be doing OK with them but to actually see such examples and hear about what happens is really helpful and quite satisfying.

For instance it is good to know that Bonnie Lass came back from a full defoliation caused by mites. Not all varieties handle that so well and it gives us an additional reason to keep Bonnie Lass in the program. She's also been neglected in the hybridizing program and this gives me a nudge to get some plants of her into the hybridizing area.

In any case, thanks for the update!

Charlie

[farmer d]

Charlie I'm glad I can help you out a little here.  I think it would be a great idea to get Bonnie Lass back into the hybridizing program more as I keep saying the blooms are just gorgeous and the plant really likes to bloom a lot once it gets going.  The only improvement for this CV would be to see if the bush can get some stronger branching so it doesn't have that slightly open look to it.

Still I love how it is now and enjoy it tremendously.

Farmer D

[Charlie]

Bonnie Lass should have the genes to support a good bush in an offspring. Bonnie B, one of her parents, is a very stout and upright bush.

BTW, do you have Cranberry Muffin? It's another one that can grow into a big, fine bush and might do well in your outdoor garden.

Charlie

[farmer d]

Some updated bush shots so we can see how the bush is filling out.  Really likes to bloom and also responds very well to being sprayed with Supernova.

Farmer D

[davidwood]

Looking good Darren, looks really strong as well.