Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

You say it stays small, but about how small does it stay? :)

I said that? If I did, I wasn't thinking clearly.

Surf City has colors much the same as Simple Pleasures, but does not get the tufting that Simple Pleasures often has. I've seen flowers on it 6 to 8 inches, probably 7 inches is the norm. The bush is big, as big as Simple Pleasures. As with all hibiscus bush size is determined by a lot of factors and the bushes will vary considerably. In good ground, with no freezing and plenty of sun, water, and fertilizer Surf City and Simple Pleasures will top 6 feet after a few years. They can be kept shorter and wider with judicious pruning but if allowed to they will grow quite tall for an exotic hibiscus.

Below is a typical bloom photo and also a bush photo although it is only in a 6 inch pot and the flower is washed out in the photo.

Charlie

Charlie

Lol you might want to have Cindy rewrite the description of surf city then :)  To me it seems that Illuminati is a more ruffled simple pleasures, so you can have the same color scheme in three different textures.

You're right, we'll fix it. Most of the time we write these descriptions when we've only had the variety a couple of years and have not seen its full potential. I do try to rewrite any that I discover need updating later on, and will do so with Surf City.

Illuminati does have the similar color pattern, as you noted. Cindy goes on about the shade of pink it has that she likes, while I am interested in the unusual red wood it makes. A lot of this is subjective preference, which is why I stopped applying solely my own taste to decision making about which cvs to grow. Just like with dogs, somebody is going to like just about any hibiscus!

Charlie

Yah I really like Illuminati the glossy dark green leaves, offset by the reddish bark and ruffled blooms make this one a keeper imo

I have been extremely happy with my Surf City.  It is a little over a foot tall but blooms like crazy and is showing signs of new branching at the bottom.  What I really like about this CV is that the flowers are so clean in form and have a perfect pinwheel shape which I am a huge fan of.  If you like ruffles of tufting don't get this CV, the blooms are very flat and smooth - again I'm a huge fan of such looks.

Also the bloom size is consistently on the large size with all my blooms at least 8" big and again this is on a small plant probably barely over a year old in a pot.

Seems easy to grow, not finicky and gets only intense late afternoon sun and the leaves are solidly green and very shiny.  Curious how this got it's name...


Farmer D

That's great to see, Farmer D. I was influenced by "show" hibiscus in the earlier days but have come to see that people have different opinions about things like form. Any reflex is a no-no for show people but in real life such blooms look quite graceful with a little back curve to the petal edges and many people like it. Saffron is one of our most popular blooms and it, like Surf City, is flat and smooth and very clean looking.

Surf City is of course a song title (Jan and Dean hit though Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys wrote the first draft of the song before giving it to his friends) and felt right for this bloom, born not far from the beaches of southern CA.

Charlie

Some updated shots from my new Surf City bush I got in April. 

Farmer D

Charlie, I'm impressed by your knowledge of the inside story behind the song. I didn't know that Brian Wilson wrote it although it shouldn't be a surprise since it has all the earmarks of a Beach Boys' tune.
Delving deeper into trivia, there has been a decades long argument between the cities of Santa Cruz (northern California) and Huntington Beach (southern California)  over which one has the right to claim the title "Surf City". Having grown up near Santa Cruz and then spending my entire adult life in southern California I feel that I am uniquely qualified to settle this important dispute. I've never been on a surfboard but having observed the wave patterns in both areas I have to say that the southern California surf is pretty puny when compared to waves up north.