From The President's Desk|Secretary/Treasurer's Report|From The Editor's Desk|Hibiscus Hybridization Guide|Boolarong|A New Kind Of Game Room|Culture Notes|Photo Galary|Board Of Director's|

The year is certainly flying. We are well into 2003 and I do not know where all the time has gone.

As they say time flies when you are having fun and I am certainly having fun talking to you all every night. Our days are so full and I do not know how I find time to go to work.

We were sorry to see Damon Veach resign as Vice President and Editor. We wish him well in the future and we hope that he will still join in with some messages about what is happening in his area.  Carlos C. Quirino, Jr.  has accepted the positions of Vice President and Editor. We thank him very much for stepping in and taking over these recently vacated positions.

So to help Carlos, we would ask that you send him articles on anything to do with Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis, like culture, photos of your place, flowers, gardens and anything that would be of interest to the members.

We have had our first TPC competition of the year. It was won by Richard Mansbridge with a photo of Milree Park (left, inset). It will go into the Grand Final after we get our other winners of the next two TPC’s for 2003. The second TPC is now under way and we will soon know the winner for the TPC 2003-2.

Joseph has included an E-card section in the International Hibiscus Society web site. You can visit the site and select a hibiscus photo to send to your friends together with a greeting and music to boot. Also, we have been having some fun with our new seed auction site in the web site.  It should provide us with some urgently needed funds to help defray costs for the web site we have with Hypermart. It is now 150 meg’s sans ads, which is great ! We are now working on including more items for the web auction.  I hope you have all been going in and having a look at all the work that Joseph has put into the web site since taking over as Web Master. It also has a new section where you can download a picture for your desktop.

We are still working on starting a Hibiscus of the Year [HOTY] competition for the International Hibiscus Society. A committee has been formed under the Chairmanship of Richard Johnson. It is presently formulating ground rules and the way we can trial plants which are entered in the HOTY competition.

We also welcomed the French group Hibiscusmania and the German Group Hibiskus-freunde as affiliated members during the last couple of months. We hope we can be of help to one another.  It is great to see hibiscus enthusiasts from all over the world getting together as one big happy family to promote our favorite flower but still retain their own identity with their own groups.

Ruth & I have been very busy attending annual shows and displays and meetings here in OZ.  It is always a busy time here in autumn when flowers are at their best.  I hope you have all been enjoying the photos of the annual shows which I have been putting up in the AuHS web site including those people here in OZ who make up the willing band of workers in promoting Hibiscus in Australia.

Do not forget to acquire your copy of the International Hibiscus Society’s Hibiscus Odyssey CD if you do not have one as yet. It costs US$20.00, postage and handling included. Money can be sent to our Treasurer, Richard Mansbridge, at the e-mail address of: aussiegold1@hotkey.net.au

New issues of the Hibiscus International newsletter will, in the future, be released every 3 months instead of, as at the present, every 2 months to give Carlos time to get his first issue ready which will be for the May/June/July 2003 period.

My thanks go to the hardworking board members for their prompt replies to the decisions which have been made to keep the society functioning correctly and more importantly, to make the Society bigger, brighter, and more friendly.

Until next time all the best with your health and family and lastly may you have stacks of beautiful blooms in the coming months. 

Jim Purdie, President.

The HOTY Committee, under the Chairmanship of Richard Johnson, are still considering how to organize the IHS HOTY competition. The Committee is concerned that they get all the details correctly in place before reporting back to the Board.

The Committee has decided it is also necessary to have trialing stations each in the USA, Europe, the Philippines and Australia. This may take some considerable time to get the correct quarantine facilities in place.  Selected persons have agreed to participate in these areas.

However, while this is being organized the BOD have decided to go ahead with a SOTY (Seedling Of The Year) competition which can begin shortly.  Hybridizers and even people who obtain seed from hybridizers may participate in this photo-based competition. Jim Purdie will announce details in due time. Jim Purdie has introduced another topic in IHS’ Mail List called " Hibiscus of the Week ".  This is an interesting topic where members can learn how different cultivars perform in different parts of the world.  A fair number of our members are joining in these fun topics Jim puts up each week but it would be good to see more replies.

The BOD have also agreed to pay for additional web space in the IHS Web Site: www.internationalhibiscussociety.org in order to store additional information for members. A seed auction page and related links have been added to the site. Here, members may bid on hibiscus seeds. Additional items may be added at a later date. The BOD likewise agreed to Joseph Dimino's suggestion to install a Commerce Center in the IHS Web Site.  It works quite well and hopefully it will generate funds for our Treasury once the products have been developed.

Jim Purdie is accepting photos for the next TPC until the end of April. Don't forget to submit heaps of photos in this fun photo contest. You can have five entries in each of the six different categories. Just send Jim an attachment at his private email address.

The IHS funds in credit are US$533.39 USD and we still owe US$166.71 for the additional Web space.

Congratulations to all the Board Members and particular thanks to our President for all his hard work and to Richard Johnson for his contribution as Chairman of the Committee for the HOTY/SOTY.  We thank our Web Master, Joseph Dimino for his brilliant work on the IHS Web site.  Damon Veach has recently resigned as Editor of Hibiscus International and also as Vice President of the IHS.  We thank him for his efforts in producing H.I. over the years and wish him well. Thank you Damon. 

We are also fortunate and grateful to Carlos C. Quirino, Jr. for agreeing to accept the IHS Vice President's position and also take on the task of producing Hibiscus International. Good luck, Carlos !

I sincerely thank Jim Purdie, Richard Mansbridge and other members of the Board for expressing their trust in my abilities in taking over the function and responsibilities of Editor of Hibiscus International. I would also like to thank Geoff Harvey, Colleen Keena and Gloria White each of whom have provided support for this issue by contributing their time, effort, articles and other materials to make it  a reality.  In this issue, you will notice a few minor changes. As Editor, my focus will be to select and expose topics of general and specific interest while organizing a colorful presentation format for the enjoyment of our readers. Beginning with H.I.15, each issue will contain a main article on a general topic. We start the ball rolling with re-printing “Hibiscus Hybridization Guide” by Geoff Harvey and an introduction by Colleen Keena. Feature articles are also included to provide balance notably Jim Purdie’s piece on Boolarong and Culture Notes the latter detailing how to develop your hibiscus garden. We are also introducing a Photo Gallery Section at the tail end of each H.I. issue. This section will be a mainstay for all future issues.          

As Editor of Hibiscus International, I invite all IHS members, their friends and affiliates to contribute ideas, articles and other material of interest.  In this fashion, we certainly look forward to a well-rounded representation, geographically-speaking, in all forthcoming issues of Hibiscus International.

Geoff Harvey is a Life Member of the Australian Hibiscus Society.  As a former nurseryman and the AuHS's former Nomenclature Officer, his work made a significant contribution to the Nomenclature as we know it today. Geoff joined The Australian Hibiscus Society in 1968/69 and became increasingly involved when he moved to Australia in 1975. 

Geoff notes that his interest in Hibiscus goes back a very long time to 1965, when he lived in Papua New Guinea. One of his blooms from this period "Madang' can also be seen at:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/hibiskus/madang.htm

The Many Exquisite Faces Of Madang (All Photos In Box: Carlos C. Quirino, Jr © 2002 and 2003)

Geoff's name occurs in Hibiscus of the Year (H.O.T.Y.) nominations and place getters. In 1985 he bred the winning single Red Robin – (Surfrider x Mollie Cummings). In 1989, he again created the winning single, Silver Rose – (Miss N.S.W. x Stan Beard), which was raised by Tony Stark.

Geoff says that the challenge of getting to know more about Hibiscus species occupies much of his time, especially the Australian ones. Geoff has a significant collection of Australian Native Hibiscus species and continues to expand this collection, traveling over large areas of Australia in search of hibiscus species. 

Geoff adds that for every little bit of information gained there is the realization that there is so much more to learn.

Hibiscus belong to the Mallow Family consisting of shrubs, trees and herbs from tropical and sub-tropical regions.  Hibiscus is the genus name meaning marsh mallow derived from the ancient Greek word “Hibiscos”.

There are about 300 species within the genus Hibiscus; rosa-sinensis is the species name meaning ‘Rose of China’ (top left, inset). Many thousands of varieties have been raised in Hawaii, Florida, Australia, Fiji and elsewhere. The correct nomenclature reference to a cultivated variety (cultivar) would be Hibiscus x rosa-sinensis ‘Ross Estey’ or for a species cross eg. Hibiscus schizopetalus x Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.

The Hibiscus that are commonly grown are considered to be rosa-sinensis crosses arising from a vast gene pool and there is no way of knowing the full family tree of any one of  modern hybrids today. The great Hibiscus researcher and authority, Ross Gast, considered the double pink Kona to be a cross between the big double red of pre-European times – Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Flora Plena and the native Hawaiian white species Hibiscus arnottianus (middle left, inset. Photo: Colleen Keena © 2001).  If this opinion is true, Kona would be an F1 hybrid. What a tremendosus possibility for hybridizing and back crossing for vigor exists with Kona.

The Western Australian hybridizer, E. Foster Brady, discovered the potential of Kona for breeding. But unfortunately, this hasn’t been followed up. The perfumed Kona and its hybrid offspring produce many quality bloom mutations eg. ‘Cockatoo’ and ‘Gan Mor Gloriana’ (lower left, inset. Photo: Richard Mansbridge © 2002).  The bloom mutations of Kona all seem to reflect the alleged parentage in bloom color as well as the slight fragrance. The recorded mutations are: ‘Enid Lewis’ – flamingo pink, ‘Mrs. Andreasen’ – cream and ‘Sabrina’ – cardinal red.
Another interesting F1 hybrid is Ross Estey derived from Glorious Four x Panalulu White. As Panalulu White is one of the forms of the species H. arnottianus, it is in effect an F1 hybrid of H. anrnottianus – form Panalulu White. 

Yet again, Pink Versicolor or Rose Scott (the Australian name), is supposed to be an F1 hybrid resulting from H. lilliflorus and H. rosa-sinensis. It is interesting to note that a H. lilliflorus x H. arnottianus would not have H. rosa-sinensis represented in the breeding.

Pink Versicolor H. lilliflorus H. schizopetalus Cockatoo C. Quirino, Jr © 2003)

H. rosa-sinensis is a polymorphous group of species and forms believed to have originated in tropical Asia, probably India. Aided by the migration of people it became widely spread throughout the Indo-Pacific region. H. lilliflorus is another polymorphous group found in the islands of the South Indian Ocean. These forms contributed to the development of our modern hybrids as well as H. rosa-sinensis and other related species.

This period of hybridizing stretches back over 190 years, commencing with the work of Charles Telfair in Mauritius. The greatest activity in Hibiscus hybridizing in both Hawaii and India was during the period 1900-1911. Hawaii made the greatest contribution by far in the evolution of modern Hibiscus hybrids. In addition to exotic size and coloring, they have given their hybrids longer bloom life, heavier petal substance and more attractive foliage with the early use of their native species crossed with introduced hybrids. Many of the best Hawaiian bred hybrids were produced by August Miller over a 40 year period and they have been widely grown in Australia since the 1960’s.

The early records of what was crossed with what are now virtually unknown. Good records have only been kept in recent times. It is still annoying to find unknown x unknown for the parents of a cultivar being considered in a breeding program.

Single Hibiscus are arranged on a plan of five – 5 petals; 5 lobed calyx; style is 5 branched at the apex; 5 stigma pads; and, 5 cells in the ovary – (seed capsule).  Hibiscus leaves are alternate, solitary with the flowers solitary in the leaf axils.

In this Hibiscus Hybridizing Guide we are considering the cultivated species and varieties known to be genetically compatible as identified by Ross Gast in his extensive research. Accurate nomenclature allows growers, researchers and hybridizers to communicate data and share information. We do have an International Committee addressing the nomenclature problems and recording accurate descriptions of H. rosa-sinensis cultivars. The cooperation of those involved in the commercial trade is paramount.

[To Be Continued In Our Next Issue: Part 2 – Hibiscus Genetics]

Boolarong is the home of Allan & Elaine Little who live on the side of the Glasshouse Mountains, about 1 hours drive north of Brisbane in the sunshine state of Queensland, Australia.

The photo (left inset) shows part of their garden, which contains hundreds of hibiscus, a lot of which are new seedlings that they have hybridized.

Allan and Elaine have just won Hybridizer of the Year in the Australian Hibiscus Society Inc. yearly competition, which is the hybridizer whose seedlings win the most points for the year at meetings and shows.

This photo shows the view that you can see from the tourist lookout just above their property, and shows some of the other mountains, which form the Glasshouse Mountains group.

The photo spread (below) are some of Allan & Elaine seedlings, which they have hybridized.

Accolade Alexandra Maree    Centaur x Hot Mustard Eye of the Storm x Centaur   Mountain Maid  Passion Pink Bouquet  PIP Red Sunset x Sunshower Wahine x Chris Vidler  High Voltage x Starry Eyes  Sam Vidler

Back to home page
© 2002 International Hibiscus Society