View inside my conservatory in Bristol. Photo 2007
My conservatory. Photo 2009
This is the white-flowered hibiscus from the garden of the University of Ibadan staff school, Nigeria. I explain its significance on the previous introductory page. With the petals extended (gently flattened), this flower is approx. 10cm/4in across. Photo 2012
All hibiscus shown in this Photo Gallery are, or were, growing in my Bristol conservatory
Large pink, from Los Angeles. This plant is 30 years old (in 2014)
'Martinique'. This flower is 21cm/8.5in across. Photo 2015.
These were grown from cuttings taken from plants in my garden in Crowther Lane, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in the 1970s. Photo 2013
This flower is approx. 14cm/5.5in across. Photo 2013.
'James Hendry'. This flower is approx. 16.5cm/6.5in across. Photo August 2014
Small pink, from Key West, Florida
View from our living room into the conservatory. Photo 2012.
Flowers, flowers everywhere. Photo 2012.
'Razzle Dazzle'. This flower is approx. 21cm/8.5in across. Photo August 2014
'Fifth Dimension'
This was grown from a cutting taken from a plant in my garden in Crowther Lane, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in the 1970s. The flower is approx. 11cm/4.5in across. Photo 2013
This brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni) flew in through a conservatory window. It alighted on the hibiscus flower and made its way slowly toward the nectar source. This plant is 35 years old (in 2014). Photo by Charles Kinsey, 2013
Double yellow, from Zimbabwe. Photo 2014.
'Lae Orange'. This flower is approximately 20cm/8in across. The plant is 32 years old (in 2014). Photo 2014.
Double cerise. Photo 2014
'Montego Bay'. This flower is approx. 19cm/7.5in across. Photo 2014.
The same plant - 'Montego Bay' - but a flower that developed and opened lster in the year, showing how lower temperatures (and shorter days?) can affect flower form and colour. Photo mid-September 2014.
A pink hibiscus with dipladenias intertwined between the lower branches. A beautiful and peaceful little world of our own, where we can sit and meditate, chat, drink a coffee or perhaps an ice-cold limoncello from Sorrento.... Photo 2014.
From our living room we can look through some of the windows into the conservatory and see many of the hibiscus growing there. Photo July 2014.
This 50cm high 'Lae Orange' hibicus was grown from a cutting taken last year (2013) and is already producing flowers. Photo July 2014.
More plants from last year's cuttings, some producing flower buds. Photo July 2014.
Some of this year's hibiscus cuttings. They are still in a propogator which supplies heat under the base of the pots, maintains high humidity and has a thermostat for air temperature control. The many different hybrids vary in the conditions they need for successful propogation from cuttings. Photo July 2014.
This hibiscus, with its rather small flower about 9cm/3.5in across, was taken as a cutting (with the eventual, reluctant permission of the owner) from a plant growing in Piazza Lauro, Sorrento, Italy. The man said it was 'molto ridicolo' to think you could make new plants from a few bits of stem. Photo July 2014.
This and the following two photos are of Hibiscus syriacus. This hardy, deciduous hibiscus is available in several different flower colour forms. The plant in these photos grows in a sunny position in our garden in Bristol and produces a profusion of flowers in late summer. Photo August 2014.
Hibiscus syriacus. This plant was grown from a cutting several years ago. It has grown into a shrub that requires some pruning most years in order to maintain its shape and size. Photo August 2014.
Hibiscus syriacus. The flowers are approximately 9cm/3.5in across. Photo August 2014. (PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE THREE IMAGES OF H. syriacus ARE THE ONLY ONES OF THIS SPECIES ON THIS SITE. ALL OTHER IMAGES ARE OF THE TROPICAL HIBISCUS H. rosa-sinensis).
Now back to Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. This plant was grown from a cutting taken on the island of Kefalonia, Greece, in 2010. Photo August 2014. SEE ALSO NEXT PHOTO.....
Flower, approx. 9cm/3.5in across, from the plant in the previous photo. The plant, approx. 1.5m/5ft high, had more than 30 buds when this photo was taken in August 2014.
In addition to tropical hibiscus, I grow a few other species in the conservatory. These include a species of the genus Aeonium. The above specimens were grown from a few finger-size plants obtained about eight years ago from the Mediterranean island of Capri; they are growing in four separate pots. They seem to thrive in the high summer temperatures and receive direct sunlight through glass, sometimes for several hours each day. Photo September 2014. SEE ALSO NEXT PHOTOGRAPH....
Aeoniums are evergreen succulents with leafless stems tipped with a rosette of fleshy leaves. As new leaves are produced at the tip, the older, lower leaves brown and drop off. Aeonium species are native to the Canary Islands, Madeira, possibly areas around the Mediterranean, and North and East Africa. The above specimen is approximately 36cm/14in across. Photo September 2014.
This cactus is commonly known as queen of the night. However, the literature on the several species of cactus known by this name is confusing - this may be a species of Epiphyllum or Selenicereus, for example; it may well be a hybrid. Any information or comments would be welcomed - see 'contact' button above. Photo 2012. SEE ALSO NEXT PHOTOGRAPH....
This plant flowers once or twice each summer, with several flowers at each blooming over 2 or 3 nights. The flowers open as darkness falls; they have an extremely sweet, powerful scent. Before dawn they wilt and droop, presumably (in wild-growing plants) after pollination has occurred. My plants have never set seed. The above specimen is over 40 years old (in 2014) and has been reduced in size several times. Photo 2012.
Sarracenia flava, the yellow pitcher plant, from North Carolina to Florida. Several varieties are recognised. The pitchers here are approx. 80cm/32in high. Photo 2013.
New growth starts in early spring with flower production, soon followed by pitcher-shaped leaves. Both flowers and pitchers grow very rapidly. Photo 2014.
Flowers of Sarracenia flava. The orientation and elaborate design of the flower prevents or reduces self-pollination. The large, central structure is the umbrella-shaped style. Flowers produce a strong scent and wild-growing plants are pollinated by insects, primarily bees. Photo 2014.
This hibiscus, with double orange flowers, was growing in Alicante, Spain. Photo November 2014.
