I have achieved hibiscus gauddom

Big and gaudy!

Pride of Acadiana

yes you have. What a fine hibbie.

Definitely gaudii. :-))))

Awesome flower Kell.

Wow, Wow, Wow - that's BEAUTIFUL!!

My Pride...bloomed in a very soft pastel version of those colors - now that it's hot, maybe my next blooms will be bright too!

That is gorgeous! I think I might have that one too but mine is little and hasn't bloomed yet. OK, how sad is it that I don't even remember which hibiscus I bought this year! Guess that's what happens when you buy too many!

Ecrane, like being too rich or too thin (I'm neither, lol), you can NEVER have too many hibiscus ;-)

I'm neither either! LOL I think I might be bordering on having too many hibiscus though, but only because I have limited space in my greenhouse. I know they should be able to survive outside here, but 'Kona' bit the dust in the big freeze last winter, so I don't want take any chances with my special new babies!

Karen, oh why can't I be too rich and too thin with too many hibiscus? LOL

Liz, where re you getting your hibiscus?

I said this in the other thread too...a couple from Martindale's Hibiscus place, a bunch from David at A Touch of the Tropics, some from Hidden Valley Hibiscus, some from Exotic Hibiscus, a few from Logees, and some local finds. So pretty much anywhere that sells hibiscus!

kell looks similar to "Standing Ovation'..

Kelli, wow...that is gorgeous! I love the way DG has the new posts area on our homepages. I see stuff in forums I rarely visit (like this one). I love me some gaudy blooms, too!

Liz, I need to get more! LOL How many do you have? I have trouble with them over winter. They seem to hate the cold/wet and die a slow death even though I put most of them in the hoop house. Though last year, more lived thru outside. But it takes them so long to get back up to speed. I think because it is so cool here. So I usually just chcuk them and get new ones. Kills me.

Kyle, your Standing Ovation is so big and impressive. Do you get many blooms on her?

Kimberly, good to see you here. You need some of these fancy hibiscus, nothing is gaudier!

Kell--I probably have about 20 now, I went crazy this year! I have never had trouble overwintering mine, at my old house I didn't have a greenhouse but I kept them on a covered patio and they did fine, a little slow to get going the next year but by mid summer they were always blooming. And at the new house I put in a greenhouse so they spent the winter there, except for 'Kona' which was too big and wouldn't fit, so it had to brave the freezing temperatures and didn't survive. Most of my 20 are new this year though, I only had 3-4 that spent the winter in the greenhouse. I think a somewhat heated greenhouse is really the way to go, in previous years it did take a while for them to get back up and blooming, but this year my Celia double red bloomed until probably December, then had buds on it pretty early in the spring and has been blooming ever since. My greenhouse was a bit drafty but most nights it stayed above 40 degrees except for when we had that cold spell, then it got down to the low-mid 30's for a few nights.

We get down into the single digits and below here, so overwintering them must be done inside...We have an itty-bitty 2br house, so I tend to avoid tropicals. It kills me to, but I know how miserable they look after being in my house all winter. The one exception is my jasmine; it's doing great this summer outdoors despite being spindly and awful when I first took her back outside.

No more chucking Kell, I'll take any off casts, send them my way, I'll baby them back, I'm warmer here. :-)

I hear you Kimberly. Winter is always a challenge even here where it is milder.

Oh Liz, I do not know what I do wrong then. But they hate it here in the winter.

OK Sue.............. I will remember!

Here is another bloom, not that puffy but the colors are so bright.

Ohhhh, it's so pretty! Those are hybrids, right? So seeds would not produce that gorgeous bloom?

Wow - where can I get one of these? I'm a hibiscus lover, too!!

My husband cracks me up. I have 2 different triple bloomers, 2 miniature Belize Breeze Hibiscus (only get 13-16" tall), 2 Rum Runners, 1 Schizopetalus and another one that I can't remember the name to (photograph attached) in my backyard. I have 4 very simple red and peach ones in the front yard. That's 12 Hibiscus plants, right?

Well, my husband said, "I don't know why you keep getting these hibiscus. They are so finicky and hard to deal with and it's so much work and it stresses me out." HE gets stressed out?! Lol ... I'M the one who does the yard work anyway!!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ... I really bust out every time I think of that!

It old him that our Mandevillas and Brugs were much more finicky and I'm not getting rid of any of it! :) Some boys will just have to stick to their own toys, like sports cars and weights.

This message was edited Jul 10, 2007 1:16 PM

Not the exact flowers but you still might get some really beautiful flowers and who knows, you might even get some with unusual leaves. ;-))))

This message was edited Jul 10, 2007 2:16 PM

Amanda, I totally get the "guy" thing - my DH is SO not into plants. As a matter of fact he tells everyone he's installing a "new plant sensor" in our backyard so he knows when I sneak in something new, lol (like I wouldn't find a way around it). He wouldn't spend even a penny on a plant; but, when it comes to his truck, quads or stereo equipment, the sky is the limit ;-)

Your picture is lovely.

karen

I've read that women tend to get a lot of little stuff, whereas guys get the BIG ticket items. Think of all the plants a quad would buy. Or maybe you shouldn't. LOL!

I do think of that, and remind him on a regular basis, lol!

Actually, that new plant sensor would probably make someone a mint. I know a lot of husbands (and a few wives) that would invest in that one. LOL
DO NOT TELL YOUR SPOUSE

What a beautiful photo of your hibiscus. I like the really bright gaudy ones.

lol@ the plant sensor. OMG! If my hubby ever thought of that I'd be in trouble! Speaking of sneaking in plants, I was told to group plants together in little groups (if they are in pots) and that my hubby wouldn't notice... it does work for awhile LOL!

~funny thread

Kell--when you keep yours over the winter, are they sitting out somewhere that they're getting rained on? Mine have always had a roof over their heads, either the greenhouse or the covered patio, so they weren't getting rained on. I would water them but not super frequently. I think the warmer temps of the greenhouse definitely helped them out this year, but in previous years the patio cover is the only thing I can think of that would have made mine different than yours.

Kell, that second picture is beautiful - especially with that matching rose in the background :-)

Ha ha ha, you guys are cracking me up! Yeah, THANK GOD my husband can't access these pages and see the plant sensor idea!! Boy would I be in trouble!!

We're planning on a ski trip this winter and I really desperately want to go so he told me that I'll have to stop buying plants off eBay and going to the local gardening places for us to afford it. That cracks me up ... I'm not even going there, lol. You other women can relate!

angel_tree_baby: Thank you so much for the compliment on the hibiscus! Aren't they just the most incredible plants ever?!

Kell: You really have an incredible plant.

I always overwinter mine in the garage with florescent lights left on. They always look bad and loose a lot of leaves, but they put right back out when spring comes and I get them out. I cut them back before taking them in, to minimize the space needed.

Liz, I put most of them in my hoophouse which had a heater on at night.

Thanks Karen. That is Wild Blue Yonder, a very nice rose. Though the hibiscus dwarfs it.

Oh Amanda, your husband is using scare tactics. Be sneakier!

Chiele, I wish I had room in my garage. It is so crowded with junk that really needs to be tossed. It is amazing how it accumulates after 30 years of tossing in whatever you do not want to see again.

OH NO, not a plant sensor. LOL. Today I was off to a clivia meeting and my husband told me I should not go. I asked why and he said it will get me all hyped up over clivia and I will rush and buy a bunch. I told him no plants would be for sale there. He said I have not left the house 1 time during the day for the last 2 months without coming home with plants. And he is right. That is how sick I am.

Today I was in a town 1 hour away and had printed out the nurseries close to the house I was visiting just in case I had time. I had left so late from the meeting/party that I figured it was too late for a nursery to still be open. But soon after leaving, I saw a chain nursery that is in a hardware store. So I pulled in saying to myself that I could not buy a plant. I got out without buying one. But they had told me they would stay open till 9 and I rememberd there was another one of the same stores close by. So I set TomTom for that address and went. Well shoot................... they had 2 of the most beautiful begonias in full flower. Any plant grown well is hard not to love and buy.

And no hiding these from Tom. LOL So I can't go even 1 day without buying one. And I got so busted because Tom was helping me download pictures to my brand new computer and saw this pic flick by and immediately said, "oh the new plants from today!" Shoot! LOL

Anyway, yesterday I was at the nursery where I have bought a few hibiscus from and they had one marked Pride of Acadiana. It was so different. Now I wonder which is the usual form.

Kell, you are cracking me up ;-) I'm pretty sure that the double is the usual form, but whether that flower is a Pride...or not, it sure is pretty. Love the begonias too! That's so funny about the nurseries - I do that too, lmao! Glad I'm not the only one.

We should all say in unison "My name is (fill in the blank) and I'm a plant-a-holic...

Karen, I hope you had a nice weekend with your daughters!

I love going to new nurseries.

Today I am off to buy a big ceramic pot for my bamboo that I brought home a few weeks ago. My problem is I have so many kind of plants that I so enjoy. On one hand, I never get bored but on the other my yard looks like a nursery!

I don't know if that one is really PofA or not, but my Celia double red has been putting out a lot of single red flowers this year mixed with the doubles, so it seems like they do that sometimes. So it could be the same plant, just it was in the mood to make flowers that were closer to single.

And if you were keeping your hibbies in a hoophouse with a heater for the winter, I have no idea why they aren't overwintering well, that should have been at least as good as my covered patio with no extra heat, maybe not quite as good as the greenhouse with heater but pretty close, and mine did fine even with the unheated patio.