Hibiscus syriacus 'William R. Smith'
Can Hibiscus ‘William R. Smith’ Set Seeds?
Shoot User
549 0
I live in the USA and realize that it is impossible to ship plants internationally without special licensees, so as a garden hobbyist I will never be able to buy live plants directly from Europe but I would like to ask you one question about the H. syriacus 'William R. Smith' in your collection.
I am hybridizing Hibiscus syriacus and want to work with H. syriacus ‘William R. Smith’ because of its historic significance. Unfortunately H. syriacus ‘William R. Smith’ is, with one possible exception, no longer commercially available in the United States or Canada. There is one nursery, in Fennville Michigan, who has a H. syriacus ‘William Smith’ for sale, which has been in the family for over 40 years but the current generation has no idea of the source or history of the plant, which has a large 4 inch white flower, which they continue to clone and sell. This spring, I purchase this Hibiscus which is doing well and flowering in my garden.
In the nursery’s description of this Hibiscus, which appears to be accurate, they state the Hibiscus doesn’t set seeds and the white flowers “drop off” once they are finished blooming. Compared to other H. syriacus, the Stigma of this H. syriacus ‘William Smith’ is misshapen at the tip, which may explain the apparent pod sterility.
[B]My question to you is: will your H. syriacus ‘William R. Smith’ set seeds or are the pods discarded soon after flowering?[/B] In all the breeding reports I have reviewed for this Hibiscus, there is a strong suggestion that only the pollen was used for propagation but there was never an explicate statement to that effect.
Based on my research, H. syriacus ‘William R. Smith’ will be one hundred years old in 2015 as documented in this report:
[B]Proceedings of the New Jersey State Horticultural Society[/B]
November 30th, December 1st and 2nd, 1915, Page 196
[LINK]http://books.google.com/books?id=fXJNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA196[/LINK]
Mike
I am hybridizing Hibiscus syriacus and want to work with H. syriacus ‘William R. Smith’ because of its historic significance. Unfortunately H. syriacus ‘William R. Smith’ is, with one possible exception, no longer commercially available in the United States or Canada. There is one nursery, in Fennville Michigan, who has a H. syriacus ‘William Smith’ for sale, which has been in the family for over 40 years but the current generation has no idea of the source or history of the plant, which has a large 4 inch white flower, which they continue to clone and sell. This spring, I purchase this Hibiscus which is doing well and flowering in my garden.
In the nursery’s description of this Hibiscus, which appears to be accurate, they state the Hibiscus doesn’t set seeds and the white flowers “drop off” once they are finished blooming. Compared to other H. syriacus, the Stigma of this H. syriacus ‘William Smith’ is misshapen at the tip, which may explain the apparent pod sterility.
[B]My question to you is: will your H. syriacus ‘William R. Smith’ set seeds or are the pods discarded soon after flowering?[/B] In all the breeding reports I have reviewed for this Hibiscus, there is a strong suggestion that only the pollen was used for propagation but there was never an explicate statement to that effect.
Based on my research, H. syriacus ‘William R. Smith’ will be one hundred years old in 2015 as documented in this report:
[B]Proceedings of the New Jersey State Horticultural Society[/B]
November 30th, December 1st and 2nd, 1915, Page 196
[LINK]http://books.google.com/books?id=fXJNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA196[/LINK]
Mike
Posted: Wednesday 24th of July 2013 12:47 PM Last reply: Wednesday 24th of July 2013 02:29 PM
Re: White deciduous hiscus
ELAINE HUTSON
553 0
They require a lot of heat, so maybe it is not warm enough and maybe it might be going through transplant shock.
Posted: Sunday 17th of June 2012 08:24 PM
White deciduous hiscus
Shoot User
553 1
I moved my 4 year old hibiscus by 3 yards to a more convenient positition in the spring the bark is still green when scrapped away it has noddles of leaves but they have not opened any further thanthat just a nodule, I live in Essex UK so shrub is still alive just not leaving up what should I do?
Posted: Sunday 17th of June 2012 08:01 PM Last reply: Thursday 27th of February 2025 03:54 PM