Friday, April 25, 2008

My hibiscus.

Here's a bloom from one of several hibiscus bushes I grew from seed back when... I think I must have been in high school.

I pollinated a single white hibiscus with a single pink/red hibiscus. And somehow got this double with a frilled filament. There are a couple other surviving hybrids in my grandparents' yard, each one a little different from the other in color. Unfortunately hybrids are usually sterile, so there won't be any seeds coming from these guys, although slips can be made.

Sometimes I wonder if my creations were humans rather than flowers, if they would be grotesquely twisted mutants rather than rare & delicate specials. Sometimes I also think I should have gone into botany.

Why did I do it though?

I seem to recall at the time feeling that the plants in our yard, at least, were getting a lot of sex.

You think I'm joking.

1 comment:

Phil said...

I've never seen anything like that. It looks beautiful.