Blooms for 09-07-07

beneficial assassin? hmmm now those are 2 words seldom used together!

YEAH, no kidding!! Un;ess of course, you've ever seen the quirky new series, Burn Notice (http://www.usanetwork.com/series/burnnotice/)!

never heard of it.. gotta check it out!
ps talking to the same person on 2 threads... pretty confusing for me

Karen, Voodoo Magic is certainly appropriately placed. I love that picture. Great pictures Cat. They are all so nice to look at. No pictures today. I was to busy playing with the cats.

Cat - it looks like Celia bloomed yesterday! WAHOOO!! I took this pic today so it's not as pretty as I'm sure it was yesterday. :)

It's an ASSASSIN bug???? Beneficial?? They are ugly, ASSASSOUT a here! I don't think I've ever seen that bug around here. Amanda, I can't get my schizo to bloom...... any tips? I thought once the weather cooled a bit, it would start producing.....

Hummmm ... I'm not sure, AuntB ... I've not had any problems with mine. They're under about 2 inches of cedar mulch and get some daily watering from an oscillating sprinkler for about 15 minutes each morning at 8:45 am. They're planted with some granular fertilizer and I do a weekly foliar fertilizer on them (I actually use the MG rose fertilizer, it has a really high middle number, although I don't know if that's the best to use). They've been blooming a tad less than usual for me lately becuase of the un-Godly heat! But they still send up at least one bloom a day each so ... ? How are yours planted? How do you water and fertilize?

It was a baby from Logees this spring. I potted it up- 2X It's grown like a weed.... I feed it probably weekly, 20-20-20...not as much as brugs.... maybe I should use rose food, instead? It's gets water at least once a day.... all morning direct sun to part/dappled shade in afternoon..

AuntB - that sounds like you're doing an excellent job to me!! Just in case, you could try treating it for critters, both visible and non-visible. But otherwise, I'd say keep it up and it'll begin rewarding you very soon!!

Are any limbs hanging over on the ends? You have to make sure they do because that's where the flowers come from. I stake the main part because I want mine to look like trees someday!! :) But I let the tips curl outward to develop flowers, which you may already be doing?

If you got it from Logees, their plants are very small so sometimes they won't bloom in their first year. So don't panic if it doesn't bloom this year, sounds like it's done a lot of growing so hopefully next year it will bloom.

Thank you, it has grown tremendously, kind of has 4 limbs coming off the main stem and I keep looking for blooms up there, isn't that where they will be? It did have one lonely bloom at the bottom a few weeks after I bought it, but it had rained, so it was kind of mushy and I couldn't really look at it with my learning eye! lol

The blooms can come off of any stem, really. You'll see little tiny green "limp stems" coming off the tips / ends of your branches when they're forming their blooms. At least that's how mine have performed. The blooms only las a day, and in the evening, you'll notice them relaxing back down out of their ball form to get ready to drop off during the night. Yours might do better for you next year it sounds like?

Oh! I want them NOW! (just like Violet in willie wonka) Hey, between two threads, we're getting my schizo issue talked about! lol Thanks for the info, I'm getting out the magnifying glass and look for some little limp stems, tonight! We are into the 40's at night, now, so I might just HAVE to wait until next year. What do you think, shall I trim a foot or so off before I bring it in winter? Maybe it would give me more bloom tips next year??

I'm not a good person to ask about trimming. I can just tell you that I did that on my 2 Brilliant and 2 Cairo Peach out in the front this early Spring, andthey grew back quicker and fuller with more branching out. Maybe that works on these, too? I mean, they are hibiscus so ... ?

That's what I'm thinking. I always trim my other hibiscus back by at least a third before I bring them in at fall time, it does help them be more bushy.... I might try it .... I like the busy kind, the pots don't get blown over in summer storms as easily as my real tall ones.

Yep yep, same here! Plus they just grow SUPER well after a harsh super-early Spring snip-snip around here!

Aunt B and Amanda, try and just be patient with schizopetalus. It is an old species hibiscus, or a very early natural hybrid, and it wants to grow a few feet tall before it really blooms well. Even then, it really only wants to make flowers out on the tips of arching canes, so try not to cut them if you want max blooms. The flower is small but spectacular and the plant is very rugged, so give it a chance to grow, presuming that Logee's plants are still as small as I remember when I ordered there years ago.
And btw, never give hibiscus high phosphorus fertilizers, please. they want low middle numbers or balanced foods like the 20-20-20 Aunt B is using. High phosphorus can kill them, but they love high potassium (third number).
These are my opinions, anyhow, and I'm sticking with them.
peace and joy,
Barry


;-)

Thanks Barry! I will be more patient, and will check mine for potting up as it has grown tremendously this summer. I'm glad to hear I've got the fertilizer right. Appreciate your post. Yes, Logees plants are rather small and maybe a bit overpriced, but their stock is healthy and they had what I wanted... Thanks again!

Aha! Well then, I guess I'd better get myself over to the garden store for some 20-20-20!! :) Thanks!!

Sometimes they call it All Purpose, but be sure to check the numbers on the container, last time I bought it, I had a little trouble finding it for some reason. So I bought a big box, I just looked, it was Peters... but Amanda your hibs are gorgeous, you must be doing something right! I'll have to cover my fingers and key board with a towel, if the 20-20-20 makes them more beautiful! So nice of Barry to give us that tip, cause I was thinking I might give it a dose of rose food! Thanks again Barry!

Yep, yep!