December blooms of the day

[Darkhorse]

Gorgeous bushes, farmer D!  Wish mine were that full.  Looks like I might need to get myself a Black Dream, too, as my Black Dragon has yet to show that deep black color.

[Louis]

Louis, I've never seen Flameball. I got some wood from the hybridizer a few years ago but it didn't take and I didn't ever try it again. If you think it's worthwhile perhaps you can shoot me a cutting next year. Looks like Wild Grape and Black Dream are still blooming away in snowy Connecticut. Since you are making seeds this winter I wouldn't mind seeing what comes from Wild Grape x Purple Magic - with some luck the bigger flowers of Purple Magic and the better bush of Wild Grape and some wild purplish flowers.
petals.

Charlie

hello charlie,


yep lots of show here. its a plesure to just visit the greenhouse to get my batteries charged.
on flameball. i really do like the bloom and the bush is very nice. so much so, that i am going to take a ride to the grower that i got it from maybe next week. its a 2 hour drive, and get two more, if they have them. one will be for you. it will be blooming when i send it to you in the spring and this will give you a head start of growing some.

i will cross grape with magic, as soon as they cooperate.

louis

[Doll]

First Love - maybe not the most exciting bloom, but it blooms and blooms. Would be a nice landscape variety.

[roadrunner]

Doll, I've never met a hibiscus bloom that I didn't like.  If I had the space and money for them I'd probably have hundreds.  First Love's bloom is nice and I bet it is awesome when there are several blooms open at the same time. 

dave

[motherof4]

nice blooms everyone!...Farmer d wow! ....here are a few of my blooms...sunkissed blonde finally is blooming after a whole year...some like it hot ..almost all red...Lynette

[motherof4]

and the rest...

[davidwood]

Farmer D that's very interesting, did you plan the garden with a view to the Hibiscus that can handle more sun or was it just a random choose.

Also I find very interesting that you are getting such good results in natural earth[ clay etc]. I get good results with my Melon Melange and that has a mixture of clay and Perlite in the pot, my only one, all the rest are coco and Perlite.

We need Charlie or Cris to explain the advantages of using a soiless medium, there obviously must be one as millions of people would not do it, but I also think there must be some advantages in growing in soil, after all its very natural.

[Charlie]

David, it's not so much growing in soil vs soilless as it is growing in the ground vs growing in pots. Lots of things are happening in the ground that are not happening in the pots. This is too big a topic for a post here but a good idea for an article for the newsletter next year. The obvious difference is that in the ground roots can grow as large as they want while in pots they are constrained and often start circling the bottom of the pot which can cause problems.

Darren, I'm interested in how you prepared your soil. What have you added to it and what was it like before you started improving it? Also, are you using any products like Supernova? Your setup has grown the type of bushes I thought would be common but over the years have found not to be so common at all. There's a fair number of people growing pretty hibiscus plants in pots - many of the participants of this forum among the best of them - but I've seen very few photos of good looking exotic hibiscus planted in the ground. Maybe some people reading this will feel challenged and will post their photos of in-the-ground hibiscus. In fairness, the weather is suitable for in-the-ground hibiscus only in south Florida and close to the Gulf coast and in southern California coastal areas but that's also where a majority of sales are shipped to so you would think we would see more ground planted hibiscus gardens. Anyway, great job this year!

Charlie

[Doll]

I've always preferred growing my hibiscus in the ground. Where I planted them this year didn't work out very well. There were too many tree roots from a live oak tree to compete with. Plus it is too much work for me to dig up 50 plus plants for the winter. Next year I will keep mine in pots but I have rooted 4 High Voltage,4 Belle du Jour and 2 Chariots of Fire. I plan on planting them in the ground along the side of my driveway where there are no tree roots to compete with. They will be in full sun all day. It will be interesting to see how they do. My garden variety hibiscus reached 8 -10 feet tall there before last winters 17 degree freeze.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day alongside Crystal Pink

[farmer d]

Darren, I'm interested in how you prepared your soil. What have you added to it and what was it like before you started improving it? Also, are you using any products like Supernova? Your setup has grown the type of bushes I thought would be common but over the years have found not to be so common at all. There's a fair number of people growing pretty hibiscus plants in pots - many of the participants of this forum among the best of them - but I've seen very few photos of good looking exotic hibiscus planted in the ground. Maybe some people reading this will feel challenged and will post their photos of in-the-ground hibiscus. In fairness, the weather is suitable for in-the-ground hibiscus only in south Florida and close to the Gulf coast and in southern California coastal areas but that's also where a majority of sales are shipped to so you would think we would see more ground planted hibiscus gardens. Anyway, great job this year!

Charlie

Here's a couple of ideas on ways to hopefully increase in-ground photos...I'll end with my soil efforts - sorry for the long post!

Maybe a majority of people aren't as embedded with the passion we have to take pictures and post them online.  When a plant is shipped or sold include some motivational info on posting pics on the forum.  Maybe even a contest(s) with specific categories like in-ground plant photos.  Maybe contests for best growth, etc...with simple rewards like a gift card or plant.  Obviously your call with how you want to structure the cost side of HVH.  Knowing people a built in motivator is important as you're competing with other priorities in their busy lives especially having the time to take pics and then take even more time to configure pics and upload to the forum.

I think another idea is the search results on Google.  That is how I found about HVH.  I believe you can pay to have certain search results come up higher when people Google certain key words.  Maybe some search result links can take potential customers to a new hybrid page or remade homepage that not only sells the first rate plants at HVH but also makes posting pics and pride of ownership a part of the plant buying process.  Again if it is quick and easy to navigate this might increase photos as you target certain types of hibiscus settings.

The way your plants sell out so quickly I agree that there has to be some great in-ground plants out there waiting for their pics to be taken.  The only detractor to this line of thinking is the mortality rate of in-ground plants for HVH customers.

As for the bushes in my planters here's my take.  Before the hibiscus there were dogwood hedges in these planters for over 20 yrs with lots of crabgrass weeds underneath them.  I believe the soil was rather well rested for an extremely long period of time.  This can be a much overlooked factor as the dogwood pulled the specific nutrients it needs which is probably much different than what hibiscus need leaving the soil robust.

Combined with a naturally nutrient rich clay (it is almost black and very moist) my challenge is to make sure the soil drains enough to avoid root rot - which I've lost apple, lemon and walnut trees to here in the past.  To offset this I actually dug out a lot of the clay at least a foot down on the shady south planter and replaced it with a lot of organic compost and a little gypsum.  I did my best to mix this in the clay soil but that only partially worked as the clay clumps together like glue.  The other planters I just made sure I made really nice "$20" holes for the plants to gain a strong foothold and make it through the transition. 

The weather this summer is very even too.  The plants got tons of sun but it never got over 85 until Sept when it jumped to over 100 for a week.  I never seen a summer like that and the plants just seemed to love it to no end. 

I am on the verge of losing two 4" plants that I planted Oct 30 so the timing of the season is important obviously and I wish I had more carefully read the info paper that came with my plants.

That's it, no Supernova yet just using the HVH Special Blend Fertilizer every week since planting these in April.

Farmer D

[farmer d]

Farmer D that's very interesting, did you plan the garden with a view to the Hibiscus that can handle more sun or was it just a random choose.

Also I find very interesting that you are getting such good results in natural earth[ clay etc]. I get good results with my Melon Melange and that has a mixture of clay and Perlite in the pot, my only one, all the rest are coco and Perlite.

We need Charlie or Cris to explain the advantages of using a soiless medium, there obviously must be one as millions of people would not do it, but I also think there must be some advantages in growing in soil, after all its very natural.

I really put a lot of thought into my hibiscus set up.  I first thought of plant spacing carefully reading HVH descriptions of plant size and growth habits.  I realized early on that my front yard gets a lot of sun from mid morning to sunset so I thought that would be perfect for hibiscus.  I also lowered my brick wall a couple of feet to give the plants more sun all day on the south side as well as let the soil dry more quickly.

As for the soil I think knowledge and awareness of what soil you have in ground is really important.  If it is not really geared toward what a hibiscus needs then you have to think about really putting in the right soil elements.  Soil is a medium to hold the nutrients and microbes a plant needs to extract.  I guess it is like creating a mini-environment just around each hibiscus to let it flourish.

I also think drainage is really important too.  Too much and nutrients get pulled down below the plant and the plant is deprived.  Too little and as I have experienced root rot and fungus issues.

Other than that just make sure to continually replenish the soil with needed nutrients and control the pests before they cause systemic injury.

Hope my thoughts are helpful...

Farmer D

[farmer d]

Sorry - one more post today...

This Black Dream is incredible.  Such a dark, burgundy purple with the most amazing red veins and throat.  I couldn't have imagined such colors.

Farmer D

[blupit007]

Louis, Where is it that you go to get the tropical hibiscus around here?  Logee's?

[blupit007]

Ok, here we go again.  My plants seem to be really happy in this window!  Hopefully I can keep them blooming all winter!

[Charlie]

Very nice, Kristen. I'm really impressed with the results you and Lou get up in Connecticut - his now in the winter greenhouse and yours indoors near good windows.

Doll, Lynette, everyone posting lately - these winter hibiscus flower colors are amazing. Some varieties show even better in winter, Black Dream for one, while others are more muted or have different but no less beautiful colors than in summer. So fascinating the way the flowers interact with conditions.

Charlie