Cuttin back my hibbies today.

Cutting everything back and cleaning the mess up today. On the bright side I did get a few of pics i thought were worthy of posting. I have added a few others from the past that I have lost and will really miss but I've decided not to replace them and downsize quite a bit. Now i will just have to choose what I want to keep and what I want to let go :-(( It's gonna be hard because they are all so beautiful and I've worked so hard on them. I may keep about 50 or so. I am sure more but thats my target (LOL) How do I do this???? I had almost hoped some would have died over the winter and it would be eaiser but It did not seem to happen that way, they just went dormant. FYI everything on their own roots have survived. I did loose a few grafted but not enough to make a difference. As for me, here it seems that own root hibbies will take a winter if you have to leave them out much better than grafted. I did not protect any of them but I did make sure they were consistantly being watered on the drip. PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME UNLESS YOU JUST HAVE TOO. Some look great and some are leafless shrubs!!! Anyway 1st up is:

Chartruse Rose



This message was edited Feb 9, 2009 10:02 PM

This message was edited Feb 10, 2009 4:36 AM

Night Runner

Area 51

And Voodoo Queen

A cool weather "Grand Slam"

Black Dragon

I think this is Crazy Horse in cooler weather. Forgot to look at the tag and it's dark now. LOL

Last Year's Me Oh My Oh with a visitor. I just loved it and I lost the plant.

Another one lost is a beautiful Rose Amethest

Cosmic Dancer Alive and Kicking

Voodoo Magic Taken Last Week

Amazon Queen

Nice pictures Robert, I especially like your Night Runner
and Cosmic Dancer. I also have some trimming to do
around the house as we were below 32 for about 8 hrs,
twice this winter.Luckily, most of my cv's were protected in the greenhouse.I do have several good looking seedpods developing from some crosses so wish me luck...
Dave

Heres a recent bloom from
Marilyn Quayle

Hi Dave,

I love your Marilyn Quayle. Unfortunately mine was lost in the hurricane. Always a beauty. Good luck on the seed pods. I am sure they will all be good!!! I think thats one of the reasons I'm cleaning house too. I have some of my own seedlings I would like to see here. I've decided to just build a pipe frame for a new gh and put my shade cloth up this year.I'll concrete each pipe 2 ft. in the ground so it should be stable. Not many trees left to destroy it. LOL After hurricane season I'll do the rest. The 2 that I had here at home were the aluminum frames and polypropalene (spelling LOL) panels and destroyed. I never had a chance to build another. I am also going to give planting some a try. I'm hoping it's not a mistake. I have some massive bushes in 15 gallon containers I'll be droping in the ground. Hope your cutting goes well. This is the 1st year in many that I have just thrown the cuttings away but with the frostbite damage they would not have a chance making a good starter plant.

Take Care,
Robert

What beautiful pictures! I dont even know what Ive lost after that arctic blast that roared thru here last week. All I can do now is wait and see what comes back and what doesnt. I guess Ill have to start shopping again. Saving pennies to buy hibiscus!

Robert, you have some gorgeous Hibiscus! As you've probably figured out, I've been working on the Hibiscus entries in PlantFiles today. :) Thanks again for adding your photo of 'Funny Voodoo'. Would you consider adding the ones from this thread also? So many people use PlantFiles, and it would be wonderful to have your photos in the entries.

Your pictures are simply gorgeous, Robert!! And your leaves look green - I'm so jealous!!

Super pretty Marilyn Quayle too, Dave :-)

We had another 32 degree night here again last night and more are anticipated through next week :-( Cross your fingers for my plants...

Thanks Fla_chick and Karen,

I only have a few with green leaves. Those were the ones I had under trees LOL so the cold did not get to them as bad. We had a pacific front blow through here but nothing major. Still hit the 70's today. supposed to be in the 50's tonight so I'm good. Hope the cold stops where you are. Ya know if you get frost just rinse them early and there should not be any damage. And if they are like most of mine at this point it does not matter LOL. I've seen ur pics and they are in much better shape.
I'll be planting some next week. I hope they dont die. They are my BIG BIG babies. If they do I know where I can get some more. We can run a covert operation straight to florida and visit Cat or Jon or Dave. I'll hook up the travel trailer to the Excursion and we will get a group together and hit the road. I've got enough seating for 8. LOL

Robert

count me in!!!!!!!!!!!

Only those in Fl. yhat were protected well survived! Mine are dead almost to the ground & I live in central fl. It got really cold, the worst in probably 20 years. It stayed cold for a very long time & this was our 3rd freeze this winter. Hopefully mine will come back from the bottom. Will wait for a while before pruning.

Hi Rene10,

I am sorry to hear about your hibbies. Your doing the right thing on waiting to prune. Hopefully some or most will come back. I know I was pleasantly suprised to still see green when I scratched the bark!

Robert

I was surprised at mine too, although some have no green at all :-(

Definitely, make sure it's going to stay warm before pruning. Otherwise, if you have a late winter cold spell, it could do more damage. When it's nice outside, I just want to start cutting, but have to make myself work on plants other than hibiscus instead. We're supposed to be super cold with lots of rain starting tomorrow all through next week. My poor little plants :-(

Great pics Robert... I have a bloom to share today. Not the best pic though.

Hello All;
Newbie here. Convinced DH to plant Hibiscus last year. We had a blank slate and he is enjoying me (for the first time) getting "into" the whole gardening thing. We planted a white/red, which still has green leaves (Protected against a northern fence). A Red....looks completely gone but might not be (against fence)....a yellow (same as the red.) And a beautiful pink - to - orange...looks like something is coming up from it right now. We are in 8B, Baton Rouge, LA. My sister in 8B Ft. Walton Bch FL....says to wait.....the "dead" ones might come back!
DH says if they come back...they won't bloom? What's up with that?
I am hoping they all come back and that we can even plant more... :)

OH - and do I cut them back? and if so - when?

This message was edited Feb 14, 2009 3:06 PM

We are all created equal. And by NO means are any growers better than any other gardener. I am no better than you or anyone on this forum. As a matter of fact it is a very knowledgable forum and for you not to include yourself would be a huge mistake!!! I learn something new almost everytime I log on!!! There is much to learn here!!! I just love the hibbie forum but we just do not advertise. This is directly from Daves Administration. It's a big NO NO. Even plugging classified ads are against the rules.

Robert




This message was edited Feb 14, 2009 1:26 AM

Hi 4004,

Do not give up on them. Most of us in zone 9 are cutting this weekend to next weekend. If you have any questions on it you can d-mail me if you would like.

Thanks and take care,
Robert

Hi Paczona,

Beautiful bloom! is it silver memories? Thanks for sharing!!!

Take Care,
Robert

This message was edited Feb 14, 2009 2:01 AM

Hi 4004,

Have you ever considered joining the Red Stick Chapter, Baton Rouge area Hibiscus Society? They have awesome shows and sales. You would need to contact -- Damon Veach in Baton Rouge. I believe their show is May 3. You would not be sorry joining. I can promise you that. If you would like more info drop me a line.

Take Care,
Robert

Hi Robert

It is berried silver. I am still trying to get one to bloom like the pics I have seen. I have another bloom today to share. Its Bonnie b

Here is another pic with the flash on. I need to work on my photography skills.

Jon

Jon, I think you did very well. It is hard to pick up the true colors in hibiscus. Many of them have that hint of irridescent sheen on the petals and it seems to reflect the light.

Hi Jon,

I agree with Alice. Your pics are beautiful. We just thank you for sharing them. Almost all of of the hibbies are hard to capture the true color the blooms when pics are taken. Sometimes a flash makes it look like a totally different bloom. Seeing them in person are the best way. I am just glad we are able to share. We just do the best we can. Bonnie B is beautiful!!! One I do not have. I will just enjoy yours!!!

Robert

I would love to keep all the plants but of course....I want the blooms... So if I cut them back do they tend to produce blooms the following year? DH says "no". That they WONT produce blooms this year since they froze back. I need to know....so I won't let him dig them up. ? I would love to join the Hibiscus Society and learn more about them....but I am such a beginner in gardening...I'm like a "Kid in a Candy Store". I'd also have to join the Herb Society, the Annual Society, the Perennial Society, the Potato Vine Society and the "I don't know anything about what I am doing" Society :)

But here is my favorite from last year. :)

Hibiscus bloom on new growth so they can still bloom this year even if they froze a bit or you cut them back. But my experience has been that if they get cold enough that they drop leaves or have some dieback then they tend to be pretty slow to wake up in the spring, so it might be well into summer before you have any flowers. That's why I have a greenhouse for mine even though I'm in zone 9--most of our winters wouldn't kill them but it would take them forever to wake up in the spring if I left them out.

Thank you so much! That answers my question. The "protected one" is still green and about 1 1/2 foot tall. As for the others....new growth is coming already. So I just wait for those to get big and then eventually they will bloom? I can do that. :) Plus I'll buy some more this year for the "instant gratification". Does that make sense?

4004 got hooked, welcome to the hibiscus addiction club, "instant gratification" sure it make sense and believe me the more you get the more you what, It happen to me a year ago, now I cross pollinate mine every day to get seeds to make new one and check the net to find new ones to buy just to see them bloom.

Robert, you really make it hard to choose a favorite, every time I choose one you come out to show another beauty, you really amazing person.

paczona, I bet the first photo comes the closes to the actual colors of that beautiful hibiscus, I've notice that when I take photos of hibiscus, if I put the flower in bright light but no light directly on the bloom and take the photo with no flash, that's the one that comes the closes to the actual color.

Wilfred

Thank you for the advice Wilfred. I will give it a try. Neither picture brings out the best color. They look so much better in person.