Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

Simple Pleasures fulfills most of my goals as a hybridizer of hibiscus. The flowers are large and colorful, the bush grows quickly into a well branched, attractive plant, and best of all it buds up quickly so that the plants bloom continually from a young age. I wonder how it does in different climates, different countries, indoors and out. If you have experience with this variety please share it with us here. Thanks for visiting!

Charlie

I think it's your best cultivar so far, Charlie!  Just my opinion....  :)

Cindy

Hi,

I live in zone 9b, Mediterranean.

My SP plant is 1.5 years old. It is good in all aspects:
floriferous
good, not too fast grower
nice bush
upright blooms
perfect form of the blooms
does not discard buds in the heat
blooms last for two days in the heat, more in cooler temps

All in all, an excellent cultivar. I would like to have more like this one!

An another photo of a bit different collor:

I got one of these in 2006, in a 6 inch pot direct from HVH. The plant was incredible when it arrived. I don't think I ever saw a hibiscus with as many stems on a 2 foot high plant (including the pot). Almost every one of the 15 or more stems had buds developing and the plant flowered the day after I got it. I was thrilled with what they shipped me. So, I planted it in a place that gets midday sun in summer and some shade from trees in both early morning and late afternoon. Wasn't sure this would be ideal but its where I wanted those pretty flowers to show.

That plant is now about 5 feet tall, not as full as it was in the 6 inch pot but still with tons of stems. It blooms these big flowers, I guess average 8 inches, almost every day, sometimes several on the plant at once. That is the big difference with my old style hibiscus - they bloom dozens of flowers every day and look great, but each flower is small and simple looking and nothing special. Simple Pleasures gives me fewer blooms but each one is exquisite and the impact for the garden is just as great as a big old garden variety that has mucho blooms.

Simple Pleasures is one I would replace with the same thing if something happens to mine. Usually I like to try a different one if any of my plants die, but I would get another Simple Pleasures for sure. Maybe I'll get a second one, come to think of it!

What cross is SP? I have just picked the seeds of the cross Tah. Princess X Simple Pleasures, so I would like to know the parents of SP. I expect a lot from those seeds, both parents are extraordinary.

Hi Nina,

I agree, that should be a good cross. I only have one T. Princess but it has grown nicely and blooms steadily. Unfortunately, the seed that Simple Pleasures came from was in an unmarked pod on a High Voltage bush. So, it is High Voltage by Unknown. During that time I used The Path and Georgia's Pearl quite a bit and either of those could have contributed the yellow to Simple Pleasures. Or it could have been something else with yellow in its genetic background, like Harvest Moon. I look forward to seeing the first flower on your seedlings!

Charlie

HI, Charlie,

By accident, Simple Pleasures and High Voltage are in my greenhouse side by side! At least I know the mother!  Thanks!

I  cannot help posting a few more pictures. She is wonderful!

And another one, from yesterday. She fades in a very nice way, not losing its beauty, just changing it.

Nina, those are such nice examples of this flower. It's really interesting the different ways it can look in your conditions - from lots of dark pink to being mostly yellow. I'm glad the one that lost its pink did so in a way that is still quite attractive.

Thanks for posting these photos!

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

A friend of mine has a large Simple Pleasures in her yard so I was thinking about taking cuttings from it.  How well does simple pleasures root?  How exactly should I do it?  She also has a large bon temps, Jamilou, crem'e da cocoa, thunderhead and Bluesman, so I will try cuttings from those too.  I hope these varieties dont have to be grafted.  Thanks for your help!

-Chris

Hi Chris,

I try to use perlite and water to root, first dip them in root tone of course.  Perhaps charlie has a better method :P

I dont know what the rooting sucess for those varieties are.  Cant help you out there.

I think I might get this one since I am hearing such good news about this plant

Nievesgirl, one thing you will like about Simple Pleasures is that it makes lots and lots of stems while still short. Each stem can bloom so you get a lot of flowers on a plant that won't take up that much space on your balconies. Some people have reported Simple Pleasures growing very large but that has been in an ideal location and planted in the ground. I don't think a potted one in part sun will get anywhere near the 8 foot height of one that I heard about.

Charlie

The question, will they root? was asked about these:

Simple Pleasures - yes

Bon Temps - yes

Jamilou - no

Creme de Cocao - yes

Thunderhead and Bluesman - don't know

This info is for rooting in climate controlled conditions and taking cuttings from healthy and primed stock plants. It's worth a try in any case.

Charlie

Thanks Charlie for the info!  I will try my luck at taking cuttings :)

Rooting cuttings is sort of magical. You take a stick and if all goes well it becomes a brand new plant. Seeing the roots emerge is very satisfying in a life affirming kind of way.

Charlie

This is how my 1,3 years old plant looks like these days:

Wow!  I really love simple pleasures, but I haven't sprung for it because I hope some cuttings I got from it will strike.  Really like pictures

Beautiful, Nina. Really great! No doubt Cindy will plead with me to ask you if she can use the photo somewhere on the web site.  So, can she? :D

Charlie

Hi, Charlie,

Yes of course.

ciao, Nina

in my greenhouse

That's a beautiful Simple Pleasures, Okianer!  :-)
Cindy

Thank you Cidny,
I try hard to get them in good shape and health,and I try to get new varietis too.

Is simple pleasures supposed to be a fast grower ?

It certainly has the potential to be a fast grower. I talked to one couple at an Open House who said their plant of it had grown to 8' high in 3 years time, planted in the ground in a sunny location against the house. In the greenhouse when I grow them in 6 inch pots I pinch them when they are very small. After that they rapidly grow several new stems that also get pinched when they are short. Then I leave them alone and very quickly they develop many new branches that bud up so that the final plant is 18-24 inches tall with a dozen stems and many buds developing on almost all stems. It's a great variety to grow into a compact blooming plant fairly quickly.

How it does indoors or in less light is hard for me to say. I'm sure it would be slower to develop but I would not expect it to be unusually slow. Sometimes they need to get established after transplanting, develop their root systems first, and then they take off.

Charlie

Thanks charlie,

I only asked because mine seems not to grow at all but I think it has to do with how I re potted it :-\. So I will put it in a bigger pot and see what happens.

You could try doubling the Supernova and see if that will get it started.

Charlie

Kerry,

I would just prune it about 1/3 of its current size.  I had a similar problem with my Sunkissed Blonde, and I pinched the tips on all of them and after about a month BAM new growth.  It started off slow, but now it is starting to take off pretty quick.  It all comes down to changing those hormone concentrations, and inducing new growth.  Pinching decreases auxin and by relative concentration cytokinin is higher and higher levels of cytokinin than auxin usually induce new shoot formation. So I think pruning and repotting will be just what the doctor ordered :)

That is the thing Chris, I did prune it a month ago lol. My lady bug was doing the same thing - no growth and I potted that one bad also.  I just repotted it and it is growing new leaves FINALLY.

I got SP as a gift in an 8" pot.  It never has the pink that some of your photos posted here have.  Mostly yellow, with a small pink hue around a maroon eye.  I have tried to cross it with everyone both ways, and none have taken.  Does SP have good pollen or set seed?

Hi Kristen,

Does yours look like any of the photos on page 1 of this topic? There are a lot of photos there showing the range of colors that Simple Pleasures has in different growing conditions. If it does not look like any of these I would start to wonder why.

Simple Pleasures does set seed and has excellent pollen. Remember, not all varieties are compatible genetically and after crossing those that are not the pods just fall off. Also, the conditions make a difference - particularly temperature. Too hot days or too cold nights also result in failure. Another cause of a cross not to take is if either flower is too old and the reproductive parts have dried out too much before making the cross. For best results fresh pollen is applied to a recently opened flower.

Charlie

OK, I don't get blooms every day, so I do use day old ones on new ones sometimes...  I get a lot a yellow, with a maroon eye, and a slight pink in between.  Not as pink as in your photos on the web.  Im sure it is SP.  But just wondering.  Especially since I had no crosses work from it yet.  I tried Saffron, Belle, Cindy's Heart, and the Baja Breeze along with the Sunny wind.

One trick some people use to assure fresh pollen when they need it is to refrigerate it. Film canisters were a popular choice (probably hard to find nowadays) to use for this purpose. A few drops of water in the bottom and then cut the staminal column with the pollen attached and place it inside the canister. It will store in the fridge like that for several days although the sooner it is used the better. There has been some discussion of freezing pollen for long term storage but I don't know of any success pollinating with previously frozen pollen.

Charlie

For the last two years it has died back about 75%. But as usual it grows like a weed come Spring. This is my fastest growing Hibiscus.

Now that's impressive! Thanks for showing.

Charlie

I received my 6 inch Simple Pleasures in Spring 2011. It was huge! (the first 6 inch I have sprung for, all my others have been 4 inch). I don't have any pictures from when I first got it, but you can see in the pictures I do have how much growth it had, just between the beginning of August to the end of September. It got some sunburn at first, but has completely recovered from that and is so healthy looking! I love it! The blooms are huge, colorful and ruffly. They last about 3 days or so. Very easy to grow. Plant it, water it and watch it bloom :)

Here are some more shots of my beloved Simple Pleasures...  :)

I let my friend baby sit some of my CVs because he wanted some flowers in his backyard. I went over there last month and SP was looking like it was dead. It was in shade and all leaves dried up and lots of small branches died back. I did the trust worthy scratch test and it was surprisingly alive. It probably has been in that shaded spot for month during the summer. I took it home and now its has a million new leaves.

I have to go rescue my other 3 plants once he moves again lol

I thought I'd add a few more pictures to this thread. It is such a beautiful plant and flower. The colors are very bright and bold. They are really hearty. I had a bloom open during a very strong windstorm and the next day, the bloom did not even seem phased, whereas my High Voltage was bent and torn. Very nice hibiscus!!

A couple more...

Denise Nice pictures. I don really like pinks but Simple Pleasure is a nice CV. I am really happy its nice and hardy especially after the trauma mine experienced at my friend house.

Is anyone else growing this outside in cooler areas? This plant is very susceptible to tip die back for me. In fact it has already started again. I just cut off three branches as they had the rot going. Has anyone else noticed this?

Fungus diseases take off as soon as the weather cools down and sunlight decreases. That signals the time to turn on heat in a greenhouse but with outdoor plants that is not possible, of course. What you could do is drench the soil and spray the plants with a good fungicide like Heritage as soon as the first cool nights show up. Or try one of the less expensive copper based fungicides.

Charlie

One of my friends in LA has simple pleasures in the ground and experiences tip dieback on all her plants at this time of year, but simple pleasures does seem to get it more often than some of her other CVs.  Its not all bad though, she just snips them off in the spring and with Simple Pleasures being such a good brancher, usually ends up with 3 or 4 new branches and more blooms the next season!   

Hi Len,

I have a SP plant growing in ground since Nov of last year.  It has been a slower grower but it was super tiny when planted.  So far no dieback yet on it though it is a little protected by a wall behind and giant Prosperity next to it.  If I get some I'll post it here.

Last winter my Rainbow Sherbet had a lot of dieback on the tips.  I cut down 5 branches on one plant alone.  Also Flickering Flame, Palm Springs, and even Black Dream had a few.  I would seal each cut with natural tar and the good news like Chris mentioned is the new growth in spring was awesome.  All that dieback on my Rainbow Sherbet has made it a monster bush now with a fantastic round shape. 

Just make sure you really seal those cuts well...I had a couple that had to be cut lower as the disease kept spreading down.

Farmer D

natural tar? You are way more caring then I :)

Chris, this is good to know. Of the 40 some plants in the ground, I noticed this one suffers tip die back the most. But like you said, it is a great brancher and quite a fast grower for me.

Charlie, I have been using a drench and Daconil. I have some copper too I guess I will try. Thanks.

Here are some early December blooms from Simple Pleasures...