Lake Fred

Lake Fred is an actual lake located in the flat pinelands of southern New Jersey. It is also one of my knicknames acquired while I was at college. There is (or was) a Lake Fred Folk Festival in the springtime.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Jamila - Lost Seedling to Katrina

This June 2005 hibiscus bloom is from a 2002 seedling from a seed pod found on Patrick. I imagine that the pod was self pollinated. The pod had a number of seeds that were fertile. We had a number that sprouted and produced a bloom or two before dying. We still have at least two others from that pod that are alive and well. I suspect that weak genes can be doubled and matched against themselves during self pollination and produce a weak plant. This plant was special because it was the first to bloom for us. It bloomed in the winter following its spring germination. It produced a purplish bloom. The plant almost died in 2003 and was saved by emergency grafting. This plant was the only graft that was successful. The crude graft was sealed with plastic food wrap and held together with a plastic and metal wire twist tie. It must have not liked Katrina's floodwater because it was dead when we returned to town and were able to extract it from underneath the tree debris behind our garage. We called it "Jamila" and may use that name again when we have a nice strong seedling with a pretty bloom.

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