MrSeedy
November 27th, 2005, 10:36 AM
I finally picked that new cross of my cross between an earlier cross of a hibiscus moscheutos with my Blue Bird rose of sharon a few weeks ago, and after consulting my seed germination guide, I see they recommend soaking the seeds for twenty four hours. I don't recall soaking the previous seeds for my other crosses , but I'm trying it anyway. On top of that it's a bit early, and I hope should the seeds come up ok , that they don't grow too fast, as I really don't have much space for them , should they grow too fast. After that, it's only a guess how long it will take to see the results of the "unusual" cross, as the last ones flowered indoors in mid-spring last time after only three or four months of growth, though not all of them. The others that didnt' flower the first year, just flowered "finally" after three or four years, so I hope I don't have to wait that long to see the results of my efforts. I'm still working on a new tree type hardy hibiscus , which I hope will have very large red flowers, but when it comes to figuring out "genetics" and what the likely offspring will look like ahead of time is nearly impossible. Meanwhile as mentioned, since the cross was so late in the season, and they take a couple of months of warm weather for the seeds to mature normally, the pod hadn't even turned brown when the first freezes hit, and it was only after bringing the pod indoors after cutting it off, that it seemed to dry somewhat normally and dry out, so I still have doubts whether the seeds are good or not?? Oh well, but what's a little time for something different. Next year I'll do my crosses a little earlier, but for some strange reason, and I hope it's not the "norm" for that particular rose of sharon, but the darn thing didn't even start blooming til mid to late Sept. and that's highly unusual , with my regular ones starting to bloom in late July to mid August.