# It's flower food Friday PIC HEAVY



## tortadise (Aug 29, 2014)

Been getting lots of hibiscus flowers recently. These guys just love em.
Little forsteni love em


Doesn't take them long to finish either.


Chaco chacos


The stare of "yeah I'm pigging out, so what" lol


South Africans love them.
Lobatse Hingeback


Angulated


----------



## Teodora'sDAD (Aug 29, 2014)

LOL- cute torts you have there.


----------



## ShadowRancher (Aug 29, 2014)

So cute! what type of hibiscus do you have? are there any that are perennial? I love in zone 8a and have been looking for one


----------



## tortadise (Aug 29, 2014)

We have 3 species actually
Majority of the mass producing blooms are the one in the photo, hibiscus syriacus I believe is the Latin name. They are native to North America very cold tolerant. The others we have are Asian, and Hawaiian giant. The Hawaian don't bloom as much but when they do the flowers are huge. Those are not cold resistant at all.


----------



## tortadise (Aug 29, 2014)

ShadowRancher said:


> So cute! what type of hibiscus do you have? are there any that are perennial? I love in zone 8a and have been looking for one


I order lots of my plants from burgess. They send catalogs to the house and you get small already started plantlings. Very very cheap too. 

Here's the rose of Sharon you can order from them.
http://www.eburgess.com/search.asp?zoom_sort=0&zoom_query=Hibiscus&zoom_per_page=10&zoom_and=1


----------



## AmRoKo (Aug 29, 2014)

tortadise said:


> I order lots of my plants from burgess. They send catalogs to the house and you get small already started plantlings. Very very cheap too.
> 
> Here's the rose of Sharon you can order from them.
> http://www.eburgess.com/search.asp?zoom_sort=0&zoom_query=Hibiscus&zoom_per_page=10&zoom_and=1



I'm saving that site for future use!


----------



## ShadowRancher (Aug 29, 2014)

tortadise said:


> I order lots of my plants from burgess. They send catalogs to the house and you get small already started plantlings. Very very cheap too.
> 
> Here's the rose of Sharon you can order from them.
> http://www.eburgess.com/search.asp?zoom_sort=0&zoom_query=Hibiscus&zoom_per_page=10&zoom_and=1


 Thank you! and I just realized my super weird typo


----------



## kathyth (Aug 29, 2014)

Thanks Kelly! I just ordered their catalog


----------



## tortadise (Aug 29, 2014)

kathyth said:


> Thanks Kelly! I just ordered their catalog


Fantastic. You quite welcome. Lots of the stuff will be out of season until spring. Because they grow everything and send them to you started out.


----------



## tortadise (Aug 29, 2014)

@kathyth @ShadowRancher 

These I planted last spring and bloom quite a bit during the summer. There still really young. When they came in they were like 10" plants and now are a littler taller than 4' now.
Dog not included haha.


Every morning from 2 plants only 2 years old. But they even bloomed last year during there first summer. I also have another variety that blooms like crazy too.


Every ounce in a while you can find big ones at nurseries. But there always expensive 3-4' tall plants. Burgess is pretty cheap, some may not make it but it's totally worth it.


----------



## kathyth (Aug 29, 2014)

The flowers are gorgeous and it sounds like the way to go! Why not pay less?
I will order from them, in the beginning of spring.
Now, let's talk about that cute dog


----------



## tortadise (Aug 29, 2014)

kathyth said:


> The flowers are gorgeous and it sounds like the way to go! Why not pay less?
> I will order from them, in the beginning of spring.
> Now, let's talk about that cute dog


Haha. Otis he's a great dog. Was abandoned in a ditch when a puppy. I never had to potty train him or anything. He was 9weeks old when I got him. Super awesome dog. He's stubborn like the beagle he has in him.


----------



## kathyth (Aug 29, 2014)

Haha! Otis is a very lucky young man!


----------



## tortdad (Aug 29, 2014)

My hibiscus have been blooming like crazy too. The reds split a flower this morning but your guy got 6 and plowed through them in no time flat. 





0.0.1 Redfoot (Spike)
0.0.1 Cherryhead Redfoot (Bruce Wayne)
1.0 Sulcata (Hal Jordan)


----------



## tortdad (Aug 29, 2014)

0.0.1 Redfoot (Spike)
0.0.1 Cherryhead Redfoot (Bruce Wayne)
1.0 Sulcata (Hal Jordan)


----------



## N2TORTS (Aug 29, 2014)

Radi'....Yummmmmmmmmie Biscus'

Great Thread Kelly!


----------



## pfara (Aug 29, 2014)

tortadise said:


> I order lots of my plants from burgess. They send catalogs to the house and you get small already started plantlings. Very very cheap too.
> 
> Here's the rose of Sharon you can order from them.
> http://www.eburgess.com/search.asp?zoom_sort=0&zoom_query=Hibiscus&zoom_per_page=10&zoom_and=1



Holy poop, Kelly.. $3.99 for SIX hibiscus moscheutos? Do you know how large they are when shipped? I'm guessing 4" pot sized plants. Do they ship them bare root? I didn't see any details listed on that site. Geez.. that price is madness. I've bought 20 seeds of that plant for about the same price once, but to have 6 of them already well started for $4 seems worth the price of shipping.


----------



## tortadise (Aug 30, 2014)

pfara said:


> Holy poop, Kelly.. $3.99 for SIX hibiscus moscheutos? Do you know how large they are when shipped? I'm guessing 4" pot sized plants. Do they ship them bare root? I didn't see any details listed on that site. Geez.. that price is madness. I've bought 20 seeds of that plant for about the same price once, but to have 6 of them already well started for $4 seems worth the price of shipping.


They are about. 4" plants yea. They come with a little soil in a bag around the roots.


----------



## kathyth (Aug 30, 2014)

Kelly.... Would you mention some the plants that you purchase for tortoise enclosures ( outdoors)?
Thanks!


----------



## N2TORTS (Aug 30, 2014)

Ok Mr. Kelly ........*Score* .....I went to a plant auction this am on the Newport/Huntington Coast...Anyhow a super cool place " Tropical Vibe" ....and Woooo ZEEE...check these Hibiscus out!
aka " Spin the Bottle" - flowers name

Well I picked up two of them ........so .........check your PM's~
JD~

*No Flash






*Flash


----------



## tortadise (Aug 30, 2014)

Pardon my French but holy **** balls. Those are awesome.


----------



## N2TORTS (Aug 30, 2014)

Dat's ok...... I'm French!


----------



## tortadise (Aug 30, 2014)

kathyth said:


> Kelly.... Would you mention some the plants that you purchase for tortoise enclosures ( outdoors)?
> Thanks!


Hostas, elephant ears, mondo grasses, blue lirope grasses. There's lots of stuff in there. Just wait till you get the catalog


----------



## tortdad (Aug 30, 2014)

Dang those look awesome 


0.0.1 Redfoot (Spike)
0.0.1 Cherryhead Redfoot (Bruce Wayne)
1.0 Sulcata (Hal Jordan)


----------



## kathyth (Aug 30, 2014)

tortadise said:


> Hostas, elephant ears, mondo grasses, blue lirope grasses. There's lots of stuff in there. Just wait till you get the catalog



Great! Thanks Kelly!


----------



## tortadise (Sep 4, 2014)

Here's a nice bloom from yesterday. Should have another one today from the same plant.


----------



## AmRoKo (Sep 4, 2014)

N2TORTS said:


> Ok Mr. Kelly ........*Score* .....I went to a plant auction this am on the Newport/Huntington Coast...Anyhow a super cool place " Tropical Vibe" ....and Woooo ZEEE...check these Hibiscus out!
> aka " Spin the Bottle" - flowers name
> 
> Well I picked up two of them ........so .........check your PM's~
> ...



I have that Hibiscus too! It is very pretty every time I see it flower!


----------



## tortadise (Sep 4, 2014)

AmRoKo said:


> I have that Hibiscus too! It is very pretty every time I see it flower!


Yes it is. Too bad they don't bloom as often as the rose of Sharon. Takes a whole to bloom and seconds to be devoured.


----------



## Amanda81 (Sep 4, 2014)

tortadise said:


> Hostas, elephant ears, mondo grasses, blue lirope grasses. There's lots of stuff in there. Just wait till you get the catalog


So elephant ears are ok for them to eat? I read they weren't. I have been pinning mine up to keep the Sudans from nibbling them. Please if their ok to eat, let me know, I have gaint/ mammoth size plants and the Sudans love to play hide and seek in them.


----------



## tortadise (Sep 4, 2014)

Not for sulcatas. But make nice plants for enclosures. Keep safe from them eating elephant ears.


----------



## Amanda81 (Sep 4, 2014)

tortadise said:


> Not for sulcatas. But make nice plants for enclosures. Keep safe from them eating elephant ears.


Ok. That's what I thought. Lol, they love to play under the huge things but I have to take twine and pin them up so they still hang over but high enough they can't reach them. I guess they think it's their jungle, or that they can't be seen eating all the pansy and petunia flowers I have out this year. lol. Either way, they enjoy them so I will just keep doing what I'm doing and pin them up. Thanks!!


----------



## tortadise (Sep 4, 2014)

Amanda81 said:


> Ok. That's what I thought. Lol, they love to play under the huge things but I have to take twine and pin them up so they still hang over but high enough they can't reach them. I guess they think it's their jungle, or that they can't be seen eating all the pansy and petunia flowers I have out this year. lol. Either way, they enjoy them so I will just keep doing what I'm doing and pin them up. Thanks!!


Your very welcome. One good thing to use is landscape timbers. You Lincoln log them and use 4" screws to secure them together they pretty much can't ram them over. Especially if it's a circle planter around plants like elephant ear that provides good shade in direct sunlight.


----------



## Amanda81 (Sep 4, 2014)

tortadise said:


> Your very welcome. One good thing to use is landscape timbers. You Lincoln log them and use 4" screws to secure them together they pretty much can't ram them over. Especially if it's a circle planter around plants like elephant ear that provides good shade in direct sunlight.


I have them all over my yard, and when I bought them the lady said "now these are mammoth bulbs" she seriously meant what she said, they are mammoth so I will totally add some to the little enclosure. The Sudans pretty much just stay in my yard (it's completely fenced, previously secured in ground for a digging dog I use to have) from sun up to sun down and They usual only go in the little enclosure at bedtime. (it's a 12'x12' I put the little ones in during the day)(12'x6' if I put leopards out and divide it)They usually go straight to their house and to bed at that time of evening anyways. But I will use your suggestion for some other things I have wanting to put in there. I'm also over ran with the big banana trees and those will provide excellent shade, I will totally do what u said w the timbers and add some to the enclosure. The quads and leopard babies will love to have their own jungle to. Thanks for the advice!!


----------



## Maggie Cummings (Sep 4, 2014)

I live in zone 8 and I have about 25 Rose of Sharon and 5 mallow bushes. They bloom constantly for about 5 months and I feed handfuls to the tortoises daily. I love them. They live in the freeze and snow, they just lose their leaves and go dormant. Then bloom like h*** in the Spring and Summer...


----------



## Maggie Cummings (Sep 4, 2014)

hahaha


----------



## bouaboua (Sep 4, 2014)

This is my "Little Pig" enjoy his flower.


----------



## Amanda81 (Sep 5, 2014)

maggie3fan said:


> View attachment 94677
> I live in zone 8 and I have about 25 Rose of Sharon and 5 mallow bushes. They bloom constantly for about 5 months and I feed handfuls to the tortoises daily. I love them. They live in the freeze and snow, they just lose their leaves and go dormant. Then bloom like h*** in the Spring and Summer...


I have those exact plants but I been calling hibiscus. I actually dug them up from one spot this spring when I redid the entire landscape and put them in another location, figured moving them would screw with them blooming, nope, they bloomed like crazy. My baby's ate the bloom and leaves for like the first week I had them but now no one is really interested in them. I'm in zone 6 ( the plant guide says 6a) and they do fine every year. I got a cutting off a new plant with gorgeous blooms this year, it's called "turn of the century". I am going to give it a season or two to establish and attempt to proganate it before I give it to the torts tho. All my old ones I started w seed. Just threw them on the ground and the next year I had them all down the front of my house. They have been a real easy to grow plant for me. I M working on an organic garden just for the torts so I plan on throwing some seeds from these in w what I already have planted. I am going to order some seed mixes from tortoise supply as soon as I figure out which would be best for my sulcatas and leopards. Plus if everything works out I plan on getting an Aldabra 1st of year so I need to check and see what is best for him as well. I'm hoping to get lucky and find a bunch of stuff all three species can share so I can just create one big garden and once it's established, turn them loose in it. If course on different days so they don't mingle. Lol.


----------



## phebe121 (Sep 5, 2014)

Can leopard tortoises eat rose of sharon blooms to i kmow they can have the leafs


----------



## Amanda81 (Sep 5, 2014)

Any suggestions for the garden would be appreciated too. Tortoise supply has a lot of seed mixes to choose from, and I have come across sites others have posted on here to order from plus I gather a lot of my weed type stuff from the neighbors that refuse to mow their yards. I got a bunch of nice dandelion plants and the white blooming clover. There is also some real nice purple blooming clover at the neighbors to but I wasn't sure about it so I decided to wait on getting it. And when the nursery starts selling grape vines again I will get a couple of those. I have ordered a mulberry tree but they said it's to hot to plant right now so when temps are right, they will get it in so I'm waiting on that. I am really enjoying the whole "grow their food" experience. Course where I live it's a seasonal thing. I am going to attempt to set up a mini garden in a kiddy pool in my tortoise room over the winter, can't promise that will turn out, but I besides using a little romaine here and there to tempt them I have tried to stay completely away from the store bought stuff and next spring I plan on growing my own lettuce and squash and whatever else is ok for them too. Like I see a lot of people give theirs endive, well I can't even find that stuff, not at a store, farmers market, no where. So I will see if I can grow it myself next year.


----------



## Amanda81 (Sep 5, 2014)

phebe121 said:


> Can leopard tortoises eat rose of sharon blooms to i kmow they can have the leafs


I'm not sure about them, I haven't offered to them. My quads ate them the first week I had them and now the quads and the Sudans just ignore em, maybe time of year or something. Since my eating machines ignored, I never attempted w the leopards.


----------



## tortadise (Sep 9, 2014)

Yes all hibiscus flower and leaves are very good foods for leopards. My leopards however won't eat them.


----------



## phebe121 (Sep 9, 2014)

Ty i tryed it with them and they love it can u give it to them every day or just once in awhile and is purple heart wandering jew ok for them


----------



## tortadise (Sep 9, 2014)

phebe121 said:


> Ty i tryed it with them and they love it can u give it to them every day or just once in awhile and is purple heart wandering jew ok for them


Everyday is fine. The leaves and flowers. I don't know about wandering Jew or Purple Heart. Tortoisetable would be a good route to check if they are feed able or not.


----------



## phebe121 (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks ill look onto it


----------



## tortadise (Sep 9, 2014)




----------



## Amanda81 (Sep 9, 2014)

So am am over the moon right now. I did some research and some looking around and guess what I found. My momma has to huge rose of Sharon bushes. I went straight over there and got me a big o bag of leaves. And my Grama had a grape vine that the deer destroyed. I was able to salvage a few nice leaves but what's more exciting is I got me some cutting to start. Oh ya. So I gave the Sudans 4 huge hand fulls of leaves off the rose of Sharon, they sucked them down. Going to give some to the quads and the leopards as soon as the Sudans are done with their soak.


----------



## tortadise (Sep 9, 2014)

Awesome.


----------



## tortadise (Oct 7, 2014)

Got a new hibiscus yesterday. Called lipstick rosa sinensis. Nice blooms, the tortoises obviously love them too.


----------



## Maggie Cummings (Oct 7, 2014)

And, you're gonna send some blooms to Bob this winter when all my Rose of Sharon are dormant??? That is simply a beautiful bloom...almost too pretty to eat...'almost'


----------



## tortadise (Oct 7, 2014)

Hehe. They may last during transit.


----------



## N2TORTS (Oct 8, 2014)

Did your new Biscus' bloom yet Kelly?


----------



## Tyanna (Oct 8, 2014)

tortadise said:


> View attachment 95290



What is that pink one called on the right?


----------



## tortadise (Oct 8, 2014)

N2TORTS said:


> Did your new Biscus' bloom yet Kelly?


Yessir indeed. But I can't find a picture of it on my phone. It's a super awesome for sure. Can't thank you enough.


----------



## tortadise (Oct 8, 2014)

Tyanna said:


> What is that pink one called on the right?


That one I'm not sure of the species. But it's a tree about 4' tall right now. Doesn't bloom too often but has nice flowers,


----------



## Tyanna (Oct 8, 2014)

I love it!


----------



## tortadise (Oct 8, 2014)

Tyanna said:


> I love it!


They sell this variety at lowes/Home Depot I believe. I get all my plants from a nursery that specializes in exotics. He's a cool old man that imports crazy plants. But also has some commonly found species.


----------



## Tyanna (Oct 8, 2014)

tortadise said:


> They sell this variety at lowes/Home Depot I believe. I get all my plants from a nursery that specializes in exotics. He's a cool old man that imports crazy plants. But also has some commonly found species.



I'll have to look around and show your photos! Thanks! It's really gorgeous, I also love that it's tree form.


----------



## N2TORTS (Oct 8, 2014)

tortadise said:


> Yessir indeed. But I can't find a picture of it on my phone. It's a super awesome for sure. Can't thank you enough.


.....^5








realized I had posted these before .... flash and No flash ....shots..


----------



## N2TORTS (Oct 8, 2014)

oops ...sorry for the double post .....on the flower pics....


----------



## tortadise (Oct 8, 2014)

Pffff double post. Who cares. It's awesome. That variety is surely my favorite for now.


----------



## N2TORTS (Oct 15, 2014)

Ok Mr. Kelly another Neat~o one! .......They only one they had , but next one that comes in I'll snag for ya ! .....
This obvious an older bloom .....(can't wait to see a "freshy" ) but nevertheless........another exotic Hybrid.
Name = " Hugs N Kisses"
















JD~


----------



## tortadise (Oct 15, 2014)

N2TORTS said:


> Ok Mr. Kelly another Neat~o one! .......They only one they had , but next one that comes in I'll snag for ya ! .....
> This obvious an older bloom .....(can't wait to see a "freshy" ) but nevertheless........another exotic Hybrid.
> Name = " Hugs N Kisses"
> 
> ...


Ohhhhh man, I have to look for that one here. Such a cool bloom. I wonder what a freshy will look like super awesome JD.


----------



## ALDABRAMAN (Oct 21, 2014)

~ Great pictures!


----------

