Hibiscus International #3

HOME PAGE

www.internationalhibiscussociety.org

Contents:
(click on the title to directly access a given article)

EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION

Winter in the southern United States is usually not as bad as the one we are currently experiencing. It was the coldest December in a long while, and it is really affecting gardens, especially the tropical plants that are in the ground. When the temperatures are relentless on the freezing size, the entire plant becomes a target for demise. That was definitely the case for December of 2000.

My own gardens, front and back, have really taken a beating. I realize this kind of weather is common in the northern areas, but it usually doesn’t affect us as it has thus far. I can usually leave my banana stalks, and they will put forth growth from the top come spring, but this year, I have had to cut to the ground. In a way, this isn’t all bad. I now have a chance to re-evaluate the positioning of the taller plants so that I can have better space for my hibiscus. Now I’ve added plumeria and some other tropical plants to my collection. Maybe in the spring, I’ll do an orchid or two.

Cold weather also has it’s benefits in doing away with a lot of the bugs and unwanted weeds that haunt us during the warmer seasons, and it is a way to learn which varieties of plants can withstand the lower temperatures. It seems as if I’m complaining about the weather, but it isn’t complaining as much as just simply wishing for the best every day of the year. It’s called being a human being and accepting life’s problems no matter how bad or good. But as the snows of winter melt away, things come alive again. We humans also recover, and we keep on truckin’ along. After all, it’s time once more to get out and help the greening process. Goodness! I believe it’s time to get some more hibiscus for my garden. Look out garden! Here I come!

Damon Veach, Editor

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Greetings Hibiscus Friends:

From my little corner, it seems the IHS is coming along just fine - thanks to the assistance, support and hard work of so many people. Our membership continues to grow almost weekly, and we seem to be developing a character of our own, which would perhaps be best expressed by the phrase "Caring & Sharing".

Although we don't have an official seed bank, members have shared over a thousand seeds going in several directions on several occasions. Wood has been shared legally half way around the world, and cvs sent from Tahiti will soon be blooming in Europe and the Caribbean, and European cvs have already bloomed in Tahiti.

Plants too have been shared going from Baton Rouge to Miami and elsewhere, and we have aided members with referrals to commercial suppliers. Mail list members have been very thoughtful and shared everything from Christmas greetings to get well cards. When one thinks about it, this is just what we would like our hibiscus Internet society to be. It’s the Internet way of becoming and being friends, since distance prevents us from more than occasional meetings.

However, that too is happening as well - from JFG's meeting with Dany in Europe where he provided a quick grafting lesson along the roadside under a bridge, to Jean-Marie Collardot and Jill Coryell's visit to Tahiti.

I think all of this is the natural evolution of the kind of society we have created, and I hope that as time goes by this will continue to flourish. I know that should I travel, I now have friends I'd love to meet around the globe – not just people I've communicated with, but people I've come to know and consider as friends in the true sense of the word.

We have now created the basics and established a direction. I think out next step will be in developing and expanding upon that direction and potential. We are already doing this in a major way with this publication, Hibiscus International, which Damon is doing a marvelous job in developing and unselfishly providing his time to create.

The other major emphasis will be in developing our website and especially the Hibiscus Archive. Hopefully by the time you read this, some of these changes will already be evident. I believe we have the material at hand to create in the near future one of the most diverse photo/info archives in existence, which will provide a diverse cross section of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis hybrids from Australia, Europe and the U.S.

The Hibiscus species archive will be one of the more complete in existence, and we will eventually develop additional archives. All of these projects are and will continue to be a group effort of benefit to the entire hibiscus community. Another major direction is to develop good relations with other hibiscus societies.

In this respect, the IHS is very pleased to now be officially affiliated with both the Australian Hibiscus Society and the Societe Quebecoise des Hibiscus. We feel this is again another IHS milestone and one of particular importance, in that it confirms our belief that the IHS can, and is perceived by others to be able to, contribute to a relationship of mutual benefit with other hibiscus societies.

As a token of cooperation, the IHS has provided a couple of hundred seeds to the SQDH for their members and has contributed just short of 150 seeds to each the AuHS and AmHS seed banks. This makes a total of some 1,500 seeds shared amongst it members and provided on behalf of the IHS to the global hibiscus community. All of this is a major step in establishing the IHS as a capable partner interested in aiding the hibiscus world, and at the same time permits people who are members of other hibiscus societies to feel comfortable with participation in the IHS.

It helps to cement the hibiscus community into a global effort that can work in finding new ways to enjoy hibiscus, share knowledge of it and promote its beauty with each other and those who have yet to discover this "Queen Of The Tropics" and top contender for the most beautiful flower on earth.

Happy Hibiscus Growing To All Dick Johnson.

The Wizards of Oz Part 1

Dorothy, we are not in Kansas anymore!
(Part 1) By Gloria White

When I first found hibiscus on the Internet and seriously considered a collection, I poured over several websites I found during a search. One thing that became crystal clear was that Australia, my favorite country for a future trip, had hibiscus too. Not only that, they had some stunning flowers. Right away, while I made my list of future flowers, I could not help but include a few flowers from Oz. The only problem was availability here.

On another website in Louisiana, I corresponded with a gentleman who was helpful and found me a hybridizer locally. As it turns out, he also happened to have, or would have in the very near future, several cvs from Oz. And what was not available now would be available within a few months. Of course, I placed an order for future plants and took five plants home that day. One is Golden Doubloon, a gorgeous golden “headlight” as Wally Morgan describes it himself. Imagine when full grown, Golden Doubloon can be eight inches across.

Wow!

Later on while collecting and finding out more about hibiscus, I joined the Hibiscus Mail List (THML) and the International Hibiscus Society (IHS). Both have been very helpful to me as a beginner and the best thing yet, I am now having conversations with people from OZ who actually grow these beauties I have been admiring.

The first person that I met, was Wally Morgan. Wally is from Maryborough, Australia, near Brisbane, and recently retired as a high school math teacher. He started growing plants from cuttings when he was about 10 years old and eventually his love for hibiscus led to a nursery that he had for 20 years. In the end, Wally had over 1000 varieties of hibiscus and had to specialize. Wally is a member of the Australian Hibiscus Society and is a web master. Check out his website at:

Wally Morgan is listed in “Palmer’s Hibiscus in Color” as hybridizing Gan-Mor Gloriana and Golden Doubloon, one of my favorite Oz hibiscus. Wally and his wife, Thelma, are very active in showing seedlings and now that Wally has retired, I am sure we will hear more from them at Gan Mor.

The Cornwells are from Maroochydore, north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast. Reg and Joyce Cornwell joined the Oz Hibiscus Society in August 1983. In 1988 at the inaugural meeting of the Sunshine Coast Branch, he was elected Secretary. He and Wally Morgan were elected to join the committee of the Oz Hibiscus Society, Inc. Over a nine year period, he “wore the hats of” committee person vice president, caretaker vice president, accredited judge, chief judge, evaluator, and H.O.T.Y. committee member. He is currently serving as an accredited judge. In the seventeen years since he started hybridizing hibiscus, he has won numerous awards for his cvs. Three of his miniatures have won miniature champion honors - Mini Magic, Morning Glory, and Sahara Sands. Two Cornwell gems are named after Joyce. Joy-Cee and her namesake, Joyce Cornwell. He imported Herm Geller and produced some very stunning cvs. My favorites are Oyster Pearl, Monet, Pink Poodle, Ten Thirty Seven, Toni Renalda and Schizophrenic.

Reg Cornwell

A look through “Palmer’s Hibiscus in Color,” and one sees the stamp of Reg Cornwell on at least 25 cvs, but in other sources, after searching through web sites, I found at least 70 to his credit, but another 10 or 12 are waiting the final approval of evaluators. The highest achievement a hybridizer can reach is the coveted Hibiscus of the Year (H.O.T.Y.), and Reg Cornwell has done this not once, but twice. In 1995, Monet, one of my personal favorites, won and in the following year, Ten Thirty Seven made what he calls “his day!”

Reg Cornwell was a bird breeder and has utilized the knowledge in their breeding to enhance his hybridization of hibiscus. Reg is a knowledgeable hybridizer and the impact of his cvs on the Oz gene pool will be seen for a very long time to come.

Greg and Julie Lindsay of Hibiscus Paradise are from Caboolture River Road. They are members of the Hibiscus Society of Queensland. Their Hibiscus Paradise is a lush rainforest at their home and boasts of over 1000 different varieties. Formerly, these two were banana farmers and fell under the spell of the “Queen of the Tropics” over six years ago. Since that time, they have created around 70 cvs. One is Buderim’s Gold, which can be a VERY large 10-12" in diameter!

Also, Australia Remembers, Karamello, Persephone and Silver Ghost are some of my favorites. Their web site can be found at:

Together these three hybridizers are credited for 55 cvs listed in Palmer’s out of a total of 470. Oz has many lovely flowers to offer the world. Their gems of gorgeous colors, wonderful shapes and textures are fit for any queen or king. The mysterious flower genie wishes her domain was large enough to have a selection of these beauties to encrust her garden with a queen’s ransom of these treasures.

Cheers!

(Book info: Palmer, Stanley J. (1997), “Palmer’s Hibiscus In Color,” Lancewood Publishing, Queensland, Australia.)

In these times of wonder and joy, the mysterious flower genie visits the enchanted garden more and more. Everyday there is a sight to behold and a promise fulfilled. The gems of many colors did not disappoint the genie in their magical display as one by one their jewel toned colors showed their faces to the sun. The treasure before her was worth more than a queen’s ransom. The mysterious flower genie held the power of the Dragon’s Breath in the gem on her turban. Announcing to all that could hear her, “It’s a Time For Magic!” An audience of multi hued birds chorused the genie in her joy and cried across the land in a song of glory.

(From the chronicles of the mysterious flower genie from the peninsula of flowers – Time for Magic.)

Time For Magic
Photo by Dick Johnson

THE EUROPEAN PAGES

Overview About Industrial Hibiscus Growing in Europe
by J.F. Giraud
Translation to French text:
Texte Francais a:

We know that the hibiscus rosa-sinensis is well implanted in Europe as an ornamental plant cultivated in pots.

Used either on the inside or on the outside, alternation follows the regions and, more specially, it is a plant of gardens in the Mediterranean zones.

The modes and methods of cultures can vary according to the identity of the nursery.

The northern growers turn generally to the plants for inside, and the nurseries of the South of Europe are more interested in the outlets for the garden.

In every country, one or two producers are specialized more strongly in propagation and producing young plants which will be marketed to growers who will take care to continue the culture until the sale.

Soft Cutting

These propagators have special greenhouses for the breeding of mother-plants and to assure the taking of cuttings. The greenhouses of implanting possess special equipment allowing obtaining of young cuttings as soon as possible. Heaters under tables, lighting of supplement, CO2 addition, a fog system or putting under plastic are essential to produce high quality young plants

Generally, the procedure is to take cuttings, about 6 to 10 cm. These very soft cuttings are picked and after soaking in hormone, they are placed in small plastic baskets, paperpots, or jiffyseven filled with special peat.

Use of paperpot for the progagation

Picking the Cutting
Rooted cuttings are bought by the producers who assure the potting.

The traditional nurseries have tables or grow the plants on the ground. More successful modern nurseries use rolling or mobile tables.

A thorough heat is essential to assure a fast implanting and afterward a strong growth. According to the types of productions, one or two pinching out is necessary to obtain well-formed and correctly branched out plants.

The last pinching is scheduled very precisely according to the period of wished marketing.

Cuttings Under Plastic

The rush hour of sales are mainly Mother’s Day, at the end of May in France, and implies to make the last pinching out in the first fifteen days of February. In countries more in the North where Mother’s Day is practiced towards in the middle of April, pinching out is necessarily advanced.

The most successful establishments reduce their handling thanks to the use of mobile tables, joint techniques of sub-watering and feeding, and posting of packaging pre-settled on the scene by expedition.

Sometimes equipment allowing the irrigation and the phytosanitaries treatments are hung over the tables of production. Plants directed to the decoration of inside have one to several treatments with cycocel to slow down the strain of stalks and give more compact plants. The regulators of growth allow time to obtain a good density of buttons on the top of branches, producing a beautiful commercial aspect.

From April until October, hibiscus are very present in garden centers and at markets. It remains to hope that the range of the proposed cultivars widens to offer to the consumer a very attractive choice to assure a bigger pleasure.

Mobile tables moving to workplace
Copyrighted text and pictures J.F.G./I.H.S. hibiscus2002@voila.fr

Morning Coffee With Nadeen Pickard

Hello Nadeen of Canada: I’m glad you liked my site as most everybody did. I understand you are a novice in this hobby, just like me I started about two months ago and I must confess I’m a bit discouraged with the results I have gotten so far.

I received some seeds from AHS, and the first thing I did was to pull-out an old incubator used for breeding canaries and gouldian finches to accommodate the new seeds. 60% of the seeds germinated, so overall I was pleased with the results, but then I made a mistake. I kept the seedlings in the incubator after potting, and the result was a disaster. The new leaves that had just emerged got burned by the forced hot air, so I lost about 50% of the plants. Then I decided to build several heaters (made out of Styrofoam with a light bulb added), but this was another disappointment, I watered them too much, and a lot of them rotted, so as you can see my first trial was almost a complete failure.

Since I_am very stubborn and determined, I wrote to Marty Henn and explained to him the situation. He was so kind to send me another batch, this time of Hibiscus syriacus. I followed his instructions by the book. I soaked the seeds in tapped water for four days, pre-heated the soil to kill germs and bacteria, and then planted them as by his instructions. So far (as of this message posting), it’s the eleventh day, and still I don’t see any seedlings. I’m a little worried about it, but I have not lost my hope yet. Since you have been through this before me, can you tell me your experience? Did you perhaps follow a different procedure? If so could you share it with me?

As a matter of fact, I’m open to any feedback from any member that wants to share their knowledge with me. I thank you ahead of time for your kindness, and I’ll be waiting for some seeds from the I.H.S.

Sincerely,
JD (from Sicily)

Hello JD,
The following is what works for me:

I use commercial seed trays that hold 8 sets of 9 seed pots for a total of 72 potential sites. I prepare a seed mixture of equal parts Canadian peat moss, vermiculite and pearlite and fill all of the pots about 3/4 full. This mixture is watered with warm water until it is wet throughout. On the outside of the bottom tray, I write the numbers 1-8 in permanent marker.

I have a bad habit of cutting myself so rather then use a knife, I use a cheap cardboard nail file to gently remove a portion of the seed covering. I only remove enough of the covering so that the white insides of the seed start to show. I use a chart I made and record each seed's identification number and where I have placed it. This way I can be sure of what seeds are germinating.

Once all the seeds have been placed I cover lightly with the remaining seed mixture and use a spray bottle to moisten the new mixture. The trays are then covered with a clear plastic dome. I have two sizes that I use. The first one is quite low, and the other I use once the seedlings have grown and are over 6" high.

The seed trays are put on a waterbed heater and maintain a temperature of about 75F. I check them twice a day and once the seedlings have started sprouting, I switch from regular water to a very diluted fertilizer mixture, probably about 50% of the recommended rate. This is increased to about 75% when the second set of leaves appears. The domes remain in place until it is near time to transplant the seedlings. At this time I gradually leave the dome off for increasingly longer periods of time. Once the seedlings have reached about 4 inches, they are transplanted into 6" individual pots.

I have had what I feel is good success under my growing conditions. I think there are many factors that have a hand in the success or failure of getting the seedlings to the transplant stage. Humidity, amount of sunshine, temperature, etc., all have their part to play.

I've noticed that some seeds have taken as long as a month or more to germinate, and I had a surprise a while ago when one poked its head out of the mixture after hiding for over 4 months. As I have mentioned, this is what works for me under my growing conditions. Needless to say with the temperatures we have, the seeds are kept indoors, which helps keep a constant temperature and I don't have the ever changing conditions that outdoor growers do.

I hope some of this is helpful and if you would like any further information or if I've confused you in any way, please contact me. The best advice I can give you is to keep trying, and one day you will have a beautiful bloom that you have personally raised. That I'm sure is second in fulfillment only to hybridizing and growing them.

Regards, Nadeen
(in Manitoba, Canada)