Hope everyone's happy that Spring is here and the gardening season is just around the corner again. Here are a few blooms from this month here in Plantation, FL (just west of Ft Lauderdale) starting with Hibiscus "Berried Treasure" which is a Hibiscus that originated in Australia.
This is Hibiscus "Suede Buttons".
Hibiscus "Symphony" Day 3 Bloom
Hibiscus "Sleeping Beauty"
Hibiscus "Fifth Dimension"
Hibiscus "Dark Charm"
And Hibiscus "Cinnamon Girl"
Nice flowers! I especially liked the last one.
And One Last One From This Morning...Hibiscus "Rojana"
There you go again...posting all those digitally enhanced photos of flowers that just CANT be true...
Just joking of course, but still, those colors are amazing. That last one you posted...just wow..
Thanks Dave and Kathy. Kathy, I actually just bought that last one (Hibiscus Rojana) a week ago at Home Depot down here in Plantation, FL. It's a grafted Tropical Hibiscus Tree about 4 feet high. They had about 10 different hybrids available in a tree form.
Jon
Home Depot?!?!? Gah!!!!
Why can't I get that lucky? Thats a beauty.
Yep, Home Depot. It's just "hit n miss" at The Home Depot. I'll usually check out 2 or 3 Home Depots in this area every few weeks to see what they have. There are always some different flowering plants at each one that you may not see at another Home Depot even when they're in the same town. It seems like Thursdays and Fridays are the best days to go as they are a bit more stocked for the weekend. You might find something unique/new/different and be able to grab one before they quickly sell out.
Jon
Wow Jon,
Beautiful!!! Can I borrow your green thumb for a little while. I've been watching Home Depot here for the 2 gallons but they have not come out yet. They did carry Bahama Bay but since Hines filed bankruptcy last year I dont know what is going to happen. Would love to get another large Rum Runner from them. I planted 349 seeds the last 2 days. I hope at least 10 bloom for me in a year or so. LOL It will be at least 10 newbies.
Take care and thanks for sharing.
Robert
what? i didn't know Hines filed for bankruptcy.
Yup. Someone came in and took the operation over but I don't remember who. We will find put soon though. I would assume things would stay the same but you know what happens when you assume. LOL. How are the newbies doing? They look pretty on the other thread!!!
Robert
Thanks Robert. Now THAT (creating new hybrids) is something I wish I knew how to do. I've read that its not difficult to cross pollinate two varieties and create a seed pod, but I've never tried it. I've always heard that you have to develop the skill of knowing which two Hibiscus to cross in an attempt to get a feel for what you might be creating rather than just randomly crossing hybrids. Is there anyone out here that can explain how you decide which two hybrids to cross? Robert, with your drive and passion for Hibiscus, I'm sure you will be creating quite a few "keepers"....I have no doubt about that.
The two or three times a year when I actually see hybrid Hibiscus for sale down here in South Florida they have always been grown by Zoe's Tropicals Inc out of Miami. They usually are sold in 2 gallon pots, but the latest batch are all 3 gallon containers. You can tell that they've been pruned several times as they are very well branched plants.
Jonathan
Let me tell you about Hines. There is a huge greenhouse relatively close to me and I was fortunate to go on a tour of their operation. Some of the things I learned:
1) they had instituted an incentive program for the workers who did cuttings. for every cutting that "took", they gave them a bonus. People were motivated to be careful and thoughtful in doing this monotonous task. I mean hundreds of cuttings a day. Other things that I saw led me to believe they cared about employee welfare/safety. They had to, otherwise, very hard to get workers for that type of jobs, out in the sun, etc.
2) For this facility, the biggest market, at the time, was Dallas TX. Seemed strange that they didn't just put a facility in Dallas and save transportation costs
3) with about 300 acres of land, they took great pride in the logistics they had devised for moving plants around and uploading for timely shipping.
4) the green/misthouse where they grew stuff from seed was hotter than hexx. I couldn't imagine working there on a daily basis.
5) As wholesalers, they were frustrated by the fact the believed they were not making as much money as retailers. At the same time, they appreciated the daily trials retailers go thru in dealing w/ the public. They wanted retail profits but no public interaction.
6) the 1 yr plant guarantee was a huge financial drain on them. Retailers had no incentive or training to care for plants, so everything simply went back to Hines, at their expense. Their initial intent was to gain shelfspace at the expense of guarantee costs. Didn't work as expected.
7) you could tell there was tension between the horticulture staff, who wanted to study and grow the best plants possible, vs. the sales staff who wanted to move plant material out to the stores ASAP and hence make money.
As part of the focus group they wanted our input on ways to improve operations. Almost unanimously we told them to spend money on better plant labeling and spend time training the staff at the big box stores regarding plant care. We got the impression they thought these suggestions took too much time and they were looking for solutions that would yield instant returns. Instead, they wanted our opinions on whether we would prefer that plants at the stores were potted in pretty green and pink pots, vs. the reg. black ones. They also wanted our opinions on the artwork for plant signs they provided to retailers. We told them that was immaterial and plant quality was most important.
I'm not sure that they listened, so not surprised they're bankrupt. But no biggie, I'm sure all the execs will get bonuses, lol.
It was a great experience and one I won't forget I gained insight into how hard the "plant business" is, small or large scale.
Unfortunately they probably did another focus group with people who don't know much about plants and aren't really that into gardening but do go to Home Depot every year and buy some plants, and decided to listen to them instead. Those are the people who see the pretty pink pot stand out from all the black ones and notice the lovely flower picture on the tag and buy because of that even though the plant in the next aisle in the plain black pot is actually a better plant. Not being in that business I have no idea which group of people dominates nursery sales at the retail outlets they sell to (the two groups being gardeners who care about plant quality vs non-gardeners who will grab the first pretty thing that catches their eye)
That must have been a great experience Nery, don't you just love getting in and seeing how the plants are really grown.
For some silly reason Hines did not sell their hibiscus plants in most of the southeast. I never understood that as they keep the big boxes well supplied with all sorts of other plants. On several occasions I wrote to them asking why they didn't offer the hibiscus around here and I never got the courtesy of a reply.
Maybe whichever entity bought them out will re-think that policy of offering hibiscus in more markets.
It was the coolest experience. Their philosophy at that time was sell only to whomever can buy a gazillion plants at a time, HD/Lowes/WM. Since I don't see Hines anywhere else, I doubt they have changed much.
Amore, I completely took over your thread. my apologies. lovely hibbies.
Hi All,
That's some interesting stuff about hines. I think another problem they had was If I understood correctly they did not get paid for a plant until it was scanned at the store. Point of sale purchase or something like that. Basically they put their plants in inexperienced hands to keep them alive until they were sold. they got paid when the plant was sold at retail outlets. I did see a few Bahama Bay Hibiscus in a River Oaks nursery in houston a couple of days ago. They looked horrible. Not sure if it was last years stock that never sold or what. They had sunshowers and amazon queen for $39.95 and they were eaten up with mites.
Robert
hiya robert. My hibbies from u are doing great. Was it Thompson's & and whatever in River Oaks? That surprises me as they care for their plants like they were diamonds and charge accordingly. But I trust you judgement if you say they were in bad shape.
I don't know if it is that way w/ y'all, but in my area HD has done away with the "reject shelves", where you could get stuff in poor shape for next to nothing. I asked mgr about it and he told me they no longer had resources for this and horrid plants just went straight to supplier. Absolutely no incentive to make it a successful collaboration between wholesaler and retailer. Our Lowes, still has the bargain bins, thank goodness.
When we discussed training retail personnel, Hines said that the stores had such a high turnover, they'd be training every day. A legitimate and valid reason. So it's not all Hines' lack of business savvy. Plant business is hard!!!
Jon, as far as deciding which plants to cross...That is up to you and your collection of plants. Not all of your plants will cooperate with you. Some are better at setting pods while others are only good for pollen. Here in Florida, I have read (and found true) that H.rosa sinensis will only set seed (approximately) between Oct.-15th thru April-15th. You then have to have the two flowers open on the same morning that you want to try and cross. As for me... I try to cross my favorites to one another, just to see what will result. If you get a seed pod developing, dont pass out the cigars just yet. In my experience, about 90% will fall off or be infertile.You may have to make several attempts before you finally succeed.I say give it a try, you still have a few weeks left... :~)
Good luck,
Dave
Hi Dave,
It goes the same here for us. Jon has some unusual beauties and all are healthy which is a good start as well. I've never gotten seeds out of Black Dragon period but I have made crosses with it. The humidity is a killer for me and the front that just blew through here is not helping. This weather is just crazy. 40 degrees here now and will be back up to 80 tomorrow. I have a seedling from Dupont that is trying to open. Cross is Barry Schlueter x Fantasy Charm. Here is the pic that Bobby has of it. The bush is does not grow very well (has the charastics of its Pod parent) but the bloom is a beauty. I was hoping it would stay warm enough to complete the cycle but as it goes i just have to wait for the next bloom. Are you in south florida?
Robert
Wow, Jon, beautiful blooms!!! Your Suede Buttons is stunning - I'm so sad that SB is one of the ones I lost over this winter, so it's good to see yours SO healthy!
Thanks everyone for the kind words and advice. I did a few crosses last week and just happened to do them in the morning when the blooms on both plants first opened. The blooms have fallen off but everything else in still in tact....for now. Now at least I know what to expect and won't get frustrated if things don't work out for me.
Rojana X Tigerama
Misbehavin X My Way
Berried Treasure X Silver Memories
Symphony X Tahitian Taui
Jon
