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kris
Posts: 72
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« on: June 10, 2009, 04:36:12 PM » |
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I stopped by Armstrong nursery today to grab some plants for a new shade garden we had put in. I saw Canjun Color hibiscus and among the new bright orange pots I found a old faded one. Curious as to what the CV was I saw the HVH tag I've grown accustom to and sure enough it was an old fantasy charm, covered with buds. I grabbed it up and will post pictures when it blooms. Are any of your CVs being released under the name Hotbiscus? Or are they for the most part all Dupont hybrids?
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Nievesgirl
Posts: 975
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« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2009, 07:29:41 AM » |
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Funny you should mention armstrong nursery , I just found one close enough by me with out having to drive in traffic ! i am going to stop by tomorrow.
As for your question I am not sure. I know that dupont nursery calls them Cajun hibiscus and not hotbiscus.
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~Kerry~
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Charlie
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« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2009, 09:25:37 AM » |
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Hotbiscus is Armstrongs trademarked name for the fancy hibiscus they sell. HVH used to supply all their plants but we found it difficult to work with the price structure and have concentrated more on direct to the gardener sales and less to wholesale liner sales.
You were indeed lucky to find a Fantasy Charm there. We would have sold that to them as a small liner plant several years ago. They will cut back and regrow a plant as many times as it takes to get it to market without spider mites or other problem so some plants stay with them for more than a year before they make it to a garden center. Those plants are usually very much in need of being transplanted and will grow much better if you get it into fresh potting mix.
Armstrongs is pushing me to offer them liners again and I would not be surprised to see them growing some varieties like Acapulco Gold, Rainbow Sherbet, Simple Pleasures, and others that are particularly suitable to their needs. They now have some good Cajun Hibiscus such as Voodoo Magic but also a lot of varieties that are junk in my opinion - bad bushes that don't stand up such as Evangeline and others that fade terribly and some that are big but in colors that are not to my taste at all. Big is great but the charm of big flowers by itself does not last long and should be matched with other qualities like pretty, colorfast color, good form, etc. Like Fantasy Charm has, for instance.
Charlie
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kris
Posts: 72
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« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2009, 09:36:04 AM » |
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Charlie, I have to agree with you. I was really intrigued by creole belle, with her flowers that looked like a pink dragons breath. I was not in all impressed with the bush, it seemed a bit floppy and I luckily found fantasy charm. I was also fortunate to find my gators pride a few weeks ago there. I think it was also from HVH because it was in a faded pot, it really needed transplanting, so it is now happy in a 5 gallon pot and usually has several blooms a week and with this cooler weather they have been really intensely colored. I went ahead and planted fantasy charm in the ground close to the house, Im hoping that will protect it from the occasional freeze we get in the winter. I see alot of people around here with garden varieties that do fine, but I had two hibiscus I left outside last year die, but I think its because there were unprotected. Hopefully she makes it through the winter just fine. Thanks for that incite and it will be interesting to see Acapulco gold and Rainbow sherbet possibly in the future. Too bad I already have those varieties  |
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nina
Posts: 134
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« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2009, 01:12:13 PM » |
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Fantasy Charm has too thin a substance for my taste. Because of that it is usually sunburnt in the middle of the day.
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Charlie
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« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2009, 09:50:58 AM » |
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Nina, this goes back to what you wrote about different results in different climates and growing conditions. I do agree with that and want to explore the causes more.
Many years ago my normal greenhouse supplier ran out of shade paint in the spring right before I intended to repaint the roof of our greenhouse which is cleaned in winter so as much light gets through as possible. The shade paint was backordered but expected soon so I just decided to wait it out.
Well, during the next week we had a sunny spell and the temperatures in the greenhouse soared up to 120F (49C) for several days in a row despite opening every window and door as much as possible. These high temperatures did really weird things to most flowers, causing stunting and distortion or those flowers that tried to bloom in that heat. The only variety that bloomed almost normal was Fantasy Charm, retaining some size and not becoming distorted. I've always thought of it as my most heat resistant bloom.
I am now wondering about the humidity levels that you experience in the summer. In the greenhouse it is very humid and that could make a substantial difference. In a place that is both hot and dry the result could be very different on these flowers.
Charlie
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nina
Posts: 134
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« Reply #6 on: June 17, 2009, 12:17:35 PM » |
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Hi, Charles,
You may be right. It came to my mind several times, while reading about various performances of the same cvs in the heat, that the humidity level could be the explanation.
Back to Fantasy Charm, is its substance thin in your conditions, too?
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kris
Posts: 72
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« Reply #7 on: June 17, 2009, 03:23:36 PM » |
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She bloomed today, a whopping 11 inches across! Her texture is good in my conditions which are dry and warm, very ruffly flowers. Belle has all her color back just not the size, but I think she is settling into her new pot nicely. I went ahead and threw some fantasy charm pollen on Belle's flowers so we will see what happens. So far with these cooler weather conditions we've been having all my crosses are producing seed pods, hopefully they ripen with seeds inside!
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Nievesgirl
Posts: 975
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« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2009, 08:26:14 AM » |
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She bloomed today, a whopping 11 inches across! Her texture is good in my conditions which are dry and warm, very ruffly flowers. Belle has all her color back just not the size, but I think she is settling into her new pot nicely. I went ahead and threw some fantasy charm pollen on Belle's flowers so we will see what happens. So far with these cooler weather conditions we've been having all my crosses are producing seed pods, hopefully they ripen with seeds inside!
that is great news Kris , I also did a cross and it looks like the pod took. I did a self cross yesterday of my gatorpride to see if it will take. I went the the armstrong nursery and found a High voltage , it looked very mature looking. The rest where from Dupont. I almost made a mistake by buying one that looked like dragons breath, I was sad when I found more like it and read the tag. I will try another armstrong tomorrow and see what I can find hiding |
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~Kerry~
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Charlie
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« Reply #9 on: June 18, 2009, 08:21:46 PM » |
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I don't mean to worry you but would feel remiss if I did not warn you to watch very carefully for spider mites on that High Voltage from Armstrongs. They could spread to the rest of your hibiscus if they are on the plant. It's a long story I don't want to go into but the odds that it has mites is higher than it should be. If it was mine I would treat it and keep it away from other hibiscus for a couple of weeks while I treated it 3 times to make sure. Horticulture oil is a good miticide and not toxic although you don't want to breath in the oil droplets. Cindy would just take it into the bath and wash it but that's her method, sort of a girl thing maybe....or you could just watch for the first sign of yellow leaves on it and hopefully that won't happen.
Charlie
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Doll
Posts: 1036
Houston, Texas
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« Reply #10 on: February 13, 2012, 01:06:26 PM » |
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Charlie, are you still growing Fantasy Charm?
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I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could.
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Charlie
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« Reply #11 on: February 13, 2012, 05:16:25 PM » |
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Yes, I still have at least 1 Fantasy Charm. Such a slow grower that it's hard to get ahead and offer a reasonable supply. I should probably hold on to any that propagate for a year and then be able to offer more of these in future year. It is still one of the best giant flowered size hibiscus due to the superb flowers.
Charlie
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