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Hidden Valley Hibiscus
Growers & Hybridizers of Exotic, Tropical Hibiscus
Volume 18, Issue 3
March 2017


News from Hidden Valley Hibiscus

HVH Awards Edition!


Hibiscus of the Year for 2012 'Confection Perfection'
Hibiscus of the Year for 2004 'Simple Pleasures' in Page Border



'OK Corral'


'Stormy Dawn'


'Loyalty'

Happy Spring to All!

Spring has been slow to come in Southern California, but it looks like it finally arrived this week! We had to delay the start of spring shipping by two weeks because it has been frosty at our office where plants out in the early mornings. But now we can finally get our spring shipping started!

This month we are featuring our 2016 HVH Hibiscus Awards. Every year, after we send out our hibiscus awards, we get a lot of comments and email from customers about their favorite hibiscus varieties. We love hearing about your favorites, and how they grow in different parts of the world and in different growing settings. It's one of the things we look forward to most when we send out the Awards Edition of the newsletter each year!

At the bottom of the newsletter, you can see all our Past HVH Award Winners, in case you have missed them in past years.

Warm sun and best wishes to all!

Charles & Cindy Black



'Dream Catcher'


'Aphrodite'


'Jupiter'



 

HVH Hibiscus Awards for 2016

It's always to make a final decision about our yearly hibiscus awards, with opinions weighing in on all sides! We choose our award winners based on both the flower and the bush, how it grows as a plant. Because there are so many beautiful flowers in the hibiscus world, and historically the bushes were pretty pathetic, the strength and vigor of our bushes has always been a huge focus for us, as many of you know. So this year, as always, we have tried to find our strongest bushes, as well as best bloomers and prettiest flowers. We are thrilled to be able to say that this year we have some of our strongest bushes ever for our award winnners! These are the basic criterion we use:

  • The flower must have:
    • Exceptional beauty
    • Good size
    • Good form
    • Durable color
    • A long-lasting bloom

  • The bush must be:
    • Strong, vigorous, and easy to grow
    • Lush and pretty
    • Well branched
    • Upright without drooping or "flopping" branches
    • A good bloomer

Hibiscus of the Year is a variety that we have been growing for several years, that has proven itself to be reliable, beautiful, and an overall excellent performer and bloomer.

Seedling of the Year is a new hybrid variety that has impressed us very much during its first full year of growing in our greenhouse. It demonstrates some kind of new break-through for us in our hybridizing program, and embodies all the qualities we are striving for.


Our Winners for 2016 are. . .


Hibiscus of the Year: 'Bohemian Rhapsody'



Our Hibiscus of the Year is 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' The photos say it all with this hibiscus. It blooms with 7-8" singles in a wild and changing mix of dark blues, purples and pinks with a dark red eye. It often blooms with several different looks at the same time. Each flower opens with its own unique markings. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is the child of the spotted blue and white 'Mountain Air' and the wildly marked, purple and white 'Wild Grape.' This hibiscus ended up with a beautiful mix of all of the colors and markings of both parents, as well as their prolific blooming. The bush is upright, well branched, full, lush and medium sized. We had Bohemian Rhaspsody available for sale in our 2017 store opening on Dec. 30, but it is currently sold out. We hope to have more later this year.





Seedling of the Year: 'Laguna Beach'



Our Seedling of the Year is 'Laguna Beach.' It blooms prolifically with large, consistently beautiful, hot, tropical 7-9" single flowers that blend from an orange edge through a red body to a hot pink eye. The flowers develop yellow and white spots and splashes in summer heat. 'Laguna Beach' is the offspring of tried and true mother 'Saffron' and giant father 'Maui Masterpiece.' The bush is upright, full, medium sized, and easy to grow. 'Laguna Beach' is currently available in our store, but it is selling out quickly!





And the Runners-Up for 2016 are. . .

Hibiscus of the Year Runners-Up

'Maui Artist'
 
'Jolie'
 
'Language of Love'
 
'Luminescence'

Seedling of the Year Runners-Up

'Fascination'
 
'Circle of Life'
 
'Beach Party'
 
'Heartache'
 


 

HVH Hibiscus Awards for Past Years

Below are our award winners for past years. Over the years, as we have hybridized better bushes, larger flowers, better color durability, or better vigor, we have stopped growing a few of these old classics. We try to bring most of them back at some time during the year. But all of them are the parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents of many of our new hybrids! Often their offspring have improved traits that we want to keep, so we grow the offspring instead of the original award-winning plant. We have many of these award-winners and even more of their descendents in our store right now!

Hibiscus of the Year

2015

'Carmel Dawn'

2014

'Bright Hope'

2013

'Splash!'

2012

'Confection Perfection'

2011

'Pinot Noir'

2010

'Cranberry Muffin'

2009

'Acapulco Gold'

2008

'Rainbow Sherbet'

2007

'Saffron'

2006

'Valentine's Day'

2005

'Belle du Jour'

2004

'Simple Pleasures'

2003

'Love Story'

2002

'Living Legend'

2001

'Haute Couture'

2000

'Heaven Scent'

Seedling of the Year

2015

'Pink Panther'

2014

'Spring Fever'

2013

'White Hot'

2012

'Thunder Egg'

2011

'Hollywood Starlet'

2010

'Wild Grape'

2009

'Burnt Saffron'

2008

'Blue Ballerina'

2007

'Sleeping Beauty'

2006

'Cindy's Heart'

2005

'Space Oddity'

2004

'Moonstruck'

2003

'Allure'

2002

'Crème de la Crème'

2001

'Born to be Wild'

2000

'Renaissance Blue'