ALLAN'S ANGLE

MOTHER OF THE YEAR!
By Allan Little

Well, yes, I know such an award does not exist, but if it did, here in Australia, Rosalind would go close to winning the title. Rosalind was hybridized by Norm and Betty Richardson in Oz about 5 years ago, the breeding being Ella T x Harvest Moon. It is a beautiful orange bloom medium-large size, usually single, but sometimes a crested single and occasionally a double. It is beautiful in all forms.

Rosalind won the Australian Hibiscus Society “Hibiscus of the Year” award in 2000, and it is a consistent winner on the show benches here in Oz. In hybridizing terms, she is an excellent pod parent and sets seed very easily. She has also been used (but less frequently) as a pollen parent. Her progeny, which are now starting to appear Down Under, mostly seem to inherit many of her better qualities i.e. flowers prolifically, good bloom texture, excellent growing bush (well branched and compact).

Rosalind has now found her way around the world and is available in many countries. I believe any serious hybridizer should consider obtaining one to maximize their chances of getting 'keepers' (new seedlings worth registering and distributing in the marketplace). Those hybridizers looking to create doubles will be pleased with her as she tends to produce more doubles than singles in her offspring (obviously a trait obtained from her Harvest Moon parentage). A few of the Rosalind seedlings to watch out for on the show benches this year are Aussie Gold, Eric Robert and Chris Vidler.

I feel that in the next few years, these will be just the forerunners of many, many more beautiful Rosalind 'babies'. Happy Hybridizing to you all.

(Allan Little..Glasshouse Mountains, Australia)

    Rosalind Photo by Dick Johnson

Hibiscus Book News

Turning Over A New Leaf
By Damon Veach

The Random House Book of Indoor and Greenhouse Plants, Volumes 1 and 2, by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, $29.95 (U.S.A.), $42 (Canada).

Here is an example of a general purpose yet all-inclusive duo of books that should be of interest to all gardeners. Whether you are simply a hibiscus-only gardener or someone with an interest in all kinds of beautiful plants, these books will find a way to bring hours of joy to your home. Not only are they filled with excellent data on almost any plant you could possibly want in your home or garden, they serve to enhance the beauty of your coffee table or favorite gardening book shelf.

Hibiscus are included in the 1,100 plants found within these pages. In fact, they are in the first volume. I found one item here that was of extreme interest to me personally. I have been trying to identify what I have been calling Brandon’s Beauty for several years. This volume shows a picture of White Wings to be the exact same plant, yet local nurseries have been selling a White Wings with different coloration. It may be possible that the newer ones on the market are possibly a sport or another named garden variety. All I know is that the blooms are entirely different. (Now it looks as if I am going to have to create my own Brandon’s Beauty when I start hybridizing this spring.) There is extensive coverage and pictures of abutilons, alogyne, mallows, lavatera, phymosea, malvaviscus, pavonia, herbaceous hibiscus, wild hibiscus, and hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Examples of this last group are Cooperi, Lady Bird, Stoplight, Sunset, Brilliant, Diamond Head, Ross Estey, Bermuda Pink, Painted Lady, Peggy Walton, White Wings, Tylene, Ruth Wilcox, Gray Lady, Schizopetalus, Kate Sessions, Florida Sunset, Santana, Carnival, Hula Girl, Butterfly, Cherie, Norman Lee, and All Aglow. Descriptions and hybridizing info is also included, and several large landscaping pictures are used very effectively.

These books were given to me to review by the local newspaper book editor, and they are definitely great additions to any library. They are large volumes and in soft-cover editions. As general reference works, they are definitely quite useful and include everything from frangipani, palms, and ferns to roses, orchids, and impatiens. These books are part of a Random House series of works. Others include complete books on perfect plants, roses, shrubs, bulbs, trees, herbs, early perennials, late perennials, and vegetables. For the gardener interested in several different plants in their landscaping and greenhouse gardening, this is the right pair of books to have.

Roger Phillips pioneered the use of color photography for the reliable identification of plants. He has written twenty books, including ten in the Random House garden series, and he has hosted two major TV series. Martyn Rix is a botanist and plant collector and the author of seventeen books. He worked for many years for The Royal Horticultural Society and is an independent botanical adviser. Together they have come up with these indispensable reference books.

Hybridizer's Corner

Fledgling Tahiti Effort - Part 1
A Beginning Hybridizer’s Experience
My First Seed (May 20, 2000)
By Dick Johnson

More than a decade ago, out of curiosity, I tried to see what would happen if I put the pollen of one flower on the pads of another. Well, as luck would have it – nothing happened. The flower fell off, and that was the end of that. At that time I had perhaps 15 or 20 hibiscus, which, although I liked very much, took a back seat to orchids.

Now, so many years later, the situation is reversed. With all the new, really incredible hybrids developed during those years, hibiscus are without a question my preferred flowers. Since having retired two years ago, my collection has grown to nearly 300 plants and over 250 cvs. Most are two years or younger with many yet so small they haven't started flowering. As a consequence, I cherish each new flower and bring them into the house for decoration. Through a mail list discussion group, I started to hear again of the passion some had for hybridizing. I was referred to the below site, which explained everything very clearly so I thought I’d try it again:

On January 25, 2000, I began pollinating flowers. At first it was a reluctant effort as I was torn between bringing the flowers into the house, or to leave them in the garden – often in such an obscure corner that they would bloom in secret where no one could appreciate their beauty.

Nevertheless, with our ideal climate where I live in Tahiti, I found I had enough flowers to bring up to a dozen inside and still had about the same number available to pollinate. After I got into the routine of it, I found I would spend a couple of hours each morning pondering just which flowers might be the best to cross and in keeping careful track of all the crosses I had made.

In fact, now a year later, I find I feel guilty if I've left a desirable flower un-pollinated. If I have to go to town in the morning, I find myself hurrying back home just to be sure no flower goes un-pollinated.

Although I started making crosses based on some estimation of what I thought would go good together, I also took the shotgun approach and put pollen on everything I could find - from the giant Fantasy Charm, crossed with the tiny Humming Bird, to garden varieties like Brilliant, with grafted varieties like Tamibon.

Before my collection increased, I had planted a few local varieties in the ground, one of which I’ve become very fascinated with for hybridizing. It is quite common locally, grows easily on its own root, and is a large heavy textured, two-day bright red flower. For lack of a name I call it Tahiti Red.

It is quite fertile, both as a pod or pollen parent. As it is my only mature in-ground plant of any consequence and flowers the most, I have made more crosses with it than any other hibiscus. Although its not certain, it might be what is referred to as a garden variety which is known to be very dominant, that is, the progeny show little variation even when crossed with notably different varieties.

However, as it is my favorite red (even considering the several I have in my collection that are considered to be among the best, such as Lady In Red, Sassi, etc.), I’m growing a lot of seed from this one in the hope its good traits may be combined with something different from these newer hybrids, only time will tell.

One possibility that intrigues me is that of transferring the Jazz signature eye zone onto this red, which already has a shinny metallic pink area just outside the small dark center. That particular cross is 99% fertile with practically every seed germinating. Although I was prepared for the fact that it requires a lot of crosses to produce just one pod, it seemed like an eternity before I was sure I had a pod growing.

Much to my surprise, however, in our ideal tropical climate, these pods matured in just 4 to 5 weeks. I was so happy with my first few seeds, I felt like buying cigars and having a celebration in honor of the impending new seedlings.

As a matter of fact, with friends, we did have a champagne toast to the joyous event. That milestone was quickly followed with the first seedlings. Some of those are approaching maturity. I’m sure none of that, however, is anywhere near as rewarding as the first flower from a seedling, but which could be any day now.

In the hope that one of my seedlings will eventually bloom with something worthwhile, I also started growing root stock and have tried my had at grafting. Again this is something I tried many years ago with poor results – one in ten grew. Much to my surprise, I’m doing better this time. With enough wood from four cvs to do two of each, I definitely have 3 cvs growing and the forth has a green eye and could grow. All of this has added so much more pleasure to my hibiscus growing. I now find myself eagerly awaiting the dawning of each new day, just to see which flowers will be opening, which cross has produced a mature pod, what seedlings are coming up, which graft is starting to grow, etc. And now with the creation of the IHS, it’s all the more rewarding as I can share these experiences with you and some of you will no doubt share your experiences with us.

Should your conditions be suitable, by all means try making a few crosses. If you cannot produce seed yourself, check the following source for free seed:

Hybridizing and growing seed adds a whole new dimension to the fun in growing hibiscus. The rewards, and I haven’t even seen a flower from my efforts, are very soul warming. Each day is full of little discoveries that enrich living.

Following are some of the things I’ve learned that some of you may find useful or interesting - assuming the climatic conditions are favorable: (see table appended)

1) Persistence is the best assurance to success. Often it takes many tries before one succeeds.

2) Success can be increased by making crosses with varieties that are known to form pods (set seeds) or have good pollen. On the table mentioned above are listed all the varieties that I have attempted to cross. For both pod and pollen parents, I have a column for number of pods harvested, number of trials and the percentage of success for each. Those that have been the most reliable (over 25% success rate) I consider as hot parents, meaning they readily set seed or the pollen is particularly potent. It appears to me that the pollen sacs of many cvs simply don’t burst to expose the pollen, hence, the reason for the brevity of the pollen parent list. The pollen of some flowers will become available more quickly if the flower is placed in the sun for a while, as this seems to cause the pollen sac to burst or open more readily.

3) Certain varieties are such reluctant parents that I don’t any longer bother trying to use them for crosses. I consider a cv to be a reluctant breeder if I have made ten trials and received no pods. However, I’ve read that others have succeeded with some of these cvs; hence, under certain conditions and with persistence, many or most of these may prove successful parents. For me, however, these are the ones I now use for decorating our home.

4) Maturity of plants doesn’t seem a significant factor. I’ve had varieties, set seed with the very first flower on plants less than 1 ft (30 cm) tall. Virage is an example.

5) On a few occasions, I have had pods form from flowers fertilized as late as 1:00 p.m. and in at least two cases from flowers that were pollinated on the second day.

6) The average number of seeds seems cv specific, with some cvs having many more seeds per pod than others. As there can be quite a range for the same cv from one pod to another, it seems possible the pollen parent might also have something to do with the number of seeds produced. The number of seeds and the range are indicated by the numbers following the cv name in the Pod Parent column. The first number is the average and the numbers in brackets are the range of seeds from one pod to another (if only one pod was produced, there is no range). Jack Mantell, for instance, produces an average of 2 seeds per pod with a range of 2 seeds minimum to 3 seeds maximum for the 5 pods harvested.

7) I found by making some limited trials that nicking seed is significant in speeding up germination. Non-nicked seed comes up more slowly over a much longer period of time.

8) Planting seed as soon as the pod matures seems to produce approximately the same percentage of germination as seed that has been aged a month. However, in my limited samples, it seems the new seed is a bit slower to germinate as opposed to seed which has aged a few weeks before planting. However, others have reported a slight improvement by aging seed somewhat before planting, and my trials were so small that my experience could be misleading. Anyway, as I find it convenient to plant seeds as soon as I find them, this is what I do most of the time, and the results seem normal to me.

9) I have found that, by nicking the seed on the fat rounded end and planting it facing up with the pointed end down, prevents seedlings from germinating upside down, i.e., root up and leaf down. If this happens, I immediately and carefully remove the seedling and plant it right side up, i.e., root down.

Happy Hybridizing! And let us hear more from some of you as to your experiences.

    Dick Johnson with first seed

From Tahiti Red x Burnished Gold

Purdie Pointers

In answer to a question concerning hybridizing, Jim Purdie of Brisbane Australia gives the following response.

I have left it to my wife, Ruth, to play birds and bees. She gets such a kick out doing the pollinating thing. I am the one that nicks the seeds and plants them and pots them up and then finds room in the garden to plant them. I also get a kick out of seeing them flower with her, so it is a combined effort.

When she first started to hybridize, she used Topaz Glory as the mother, and produced plenty of pods as it is a very good mother, but we were not happy with the seedlings we produced as a lot of them were too soft, and we had to pull them out. We kept Martha Irene (Topaz Glory x Vicki Lee), which was named after my 96-year-old mother. (She is still very proud of her flower, which she has growing outside her room in the nursing home where she lives). Another was Sarah’s Delight, out of the same seedpod. Tim’s Delight has (Fanfare x Old Frankie) as its parents.

In singles, she has been using Rosalind, Pro Legato, Tim’s Delight, and in the miniatures, Madison Louise, Pixel, Morning Glory, Thora, Copper Top and Pixi as mothers. Various other cvs have been used as the fathers, not only minis as fathers but other varieties to see if they produce minis or larger flowers.

I planted out 26 seeds today, 18 out of Pro Legato x Lorna Hargreaves and 8 seeds out Madison Louise x Emily. We try to get good bushes as well as firm texture in the blooms. She tried Topaz Glory x Tammy Faye, and we got plenty of seeds but the flowers that are starting to produce are too floppy. There are some great colors, but they re-curve too much, and this is what happens when you put two soft blooms together. This is what you learn as you delve further into hybridizing.

I will send some photos when I can get some decent blooms that are not all marked from the heat. Merv Weis has told me how to take photos with my 35mm camera and get it developed onto a CD disc and then send them on an e-mail to the IHS list.

Wait ‘n’ See

Persephone
Photos by Allan Little

HIBISCUS MISCELLANEA

IHS GOVERNING BOARD

Hibiscus International is published every two months as a cyber/hard copy publication. It appears on the IHS web site in cyber version or as an e-mail attachment, which can be read and printed out on your own equipment. Hardcover copies are available, but they have to be requested from the editor and a small charge is assessed to cover mailing costs. The IHS is a non-profit organization with the sole purpose of promoting the world’s most beautiful flower. The benefits can be found by joining our group and sharing daily updates and discussions. From the novice to the professional hybridizers, you will fine it all here. Check us out at:

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