Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

Well Ive been procrastinating working on papers, so I thought I would distract myself with a game.  Because the AHS doesn't allow any HVH hibiscus to be eligible for hibiscus of the year, we should have our own award.  I personally nominate:

Cosmic Gold
Cindy's heart
Saffron

Any other nominees? :)

My nominees would be:

Cindy's Heart
Cosmic Gold
Black Dream

My nominee's would be:

Cindy's Heart
High Heaven
Belle du Jour

 ;D

Heavy Metal
Saffron
Buttercup

I would have to say

Cindy's Heart
Saffron
Space Oddity
and one more, because I have a hard time narrowing down things ;)
The Path  ( It was nice enough to show her face before I left... just barely)

The regional heat for this competition has already finished here in Vietnam.  High Voltage was the winner and Think Pink came runner up.

For the ones that I have personally seen, I would say:

Candy Stripe
Cherry Appaloosa
Electric Orange
Heavy Metal
Vin Extraordinaire

Doll,
I believe Black Dream is a Dupont CV.

Well, this is sure interesting. I have to give this some thought.....

Yes, Black Dream is Dupont and The Path is an older variety that a nice guy in Florida named Greg Blanchard came up with 20 years ago.

Charlie

OK, So The Path is out...  I have only seen about 7-8 blooms out of my collection, so I'm at a disadvantage.  I know if I owned a Vin, that would probably be my #1.

One interesting aspect of these choices is that although people like to show their blues and some of the stranger ones when it gets down to choosing a favorite almost all of the ones on these lists are the strong, clear, tropical colors. That actually reflects sales, too. The majority seems to like them big, bright, and bold but after they have some of those many find the more subtle and unusual colors make great complements to the hot tropical ones.

I used to track how many visitors went to each of the color pages of the store and found the yellow page to get more hits consistently for the years I tracked that. But, no yellows on anyone's list. We did let the available yellows go down after shipping so many Heaven Scent plants for several years but maybe the new crop of yellows will again be popular. Cindy is not partial to yellow but I find it to be the most cheerful and uplifting flower color.

Charlie

Charlie, I especially like that new yellow variety San Diego Sun. It really jumped out at me when it first showed up in the store.

The ones that went through the rainy cold winter we had here...and did not show any signs of stress were...alcapulco gold..confection perfection..electric orange...sunkissed blonde..maui masterpiece..pina colada....heavy metal..belle..firestorm..and moonstruck....and these are all outdoors...but I would say the very best was acapulco gold...she even gave me some blooms :D..Lynette...Oh and heavy metal..Lynette

ACAPULCO GOLD
VALENTINES DAY
BRIDAL PATH

Each one of these bloomed throughout the winter and the colors are intense.

For anyone that does not have Acapulco Gold you are missing out on a really easy to grow plant that blooms like crazy.  Every bloom is different.

Honestly, this is such a subjective thing how can you not have your own favorites and vote for them.  We don't have any pets at our home but these more than make up for them.

Hi Charlie,
I too like the Yellows and we have wanted Heaven Scent for many moons, I simply do not recall seeing it in person and therefore did not add it to the list. I do have a few other yellow CV's though.

Trust me when I say that if you offered us Heaven Scent you could consider it sold  ;) 

In regards to my general taste preferences, I do prefer the brighter colors, singles over doubles and prefer unique patterns and eye zones, now Jean you could just say is double crazy  :o

Hal, there are a couple of grafted Heavens Scent plants coming along. Should be ready in mid-summer.

I like double flowered varieties, too, and plan to keep working on them to get more that will bloom all summer.

Charlie

Darren and Lynette, I'm sure glad to hear about your results with Acapulco Gold. It was close to the top of the sales list last year and has already sold out this spring.

Charlie

Oh Acapulco Gold is a beauty, I sent my huge plant to my parents house when I moved,  It did not look good when I visited in December. This was due to the fact my mom planted it from a 3 gallon to 10 gallon pot, only using compost and not potting soil, I re-potted it adding lots of perlite, so hopefully it will come back...

I'd like to add Rainbow Sherbet to that list.  All previous named are winners in my opinion.

dave

Rainbow Sherbet sure is a beauty :)

Charlie, how do think Red Flair will do in the heat?

I don't know yet about Red Flair. It bloomed well here last summer but our climate is mild compared to TX. Both parents - Saffron and Love Story - are known to do pretty well with heat so I would be hopeful. I'm looking forward to reports from all climate zones about these new ones.

Charlie

I would say for me would be

Creme de cacao
Cranberry muffin
Simple pleasures
some like it hot
Presidential Affair ( has not bloomed yet but its vigorous )

Dupont's that Charlie offers
Gator pride
Voodoo Magic

Barry's
Heartbreak hotel

Yes, RS needs to be recognized too.  The yellow and pink are very strong and brightly colored.  Of all my blooms this one makes me feel the most like I'm back in HI. 

My only neg on this one is that it seems to be prone to dieback disease.  Between my two RS I have had five cases of dieback disease since Nov for those of us who have them outside 365.

Farmer D

I'm glad to see Rainbow Sherbet added to some lists. It's not only a top seller but also one of the best parents for use in hybridizing, the offspring often having excellent vibrant colors. My main complaint about it is that it does not branch as readily as varieties like Simple Pleasures, Saffron, and Hot Pepper. That is one reason that you will see a lot of crosses between Rainbow Sherbet and these others.

Charlie

Darren, I didn't realize you lived in HI before - which island? I spent a pleasant year on Maui way back when.

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

I have yet to live in Hawaii, though we go there twice a year for over 10 years now.  You have the right idea though, one day we would like to buy some property there and jump back and forth.

How was your experience in Maui?  Did you spend a lot of time in Upcountry?

Farmer D

Well I might have missed it but I don't recall if Charlie & Cindy had announced what their 2012 HVH Hibiscus of the Year is.  I believe the last two years before it was Pinot Noir and Cranberry Muffin respectively.  I even wonder if there were others before that - I would love to know who if any...

Here are a few that stuck out in my mind from all the pics posted and remarks on the forum this year as well as the additional feedback I saw on Facebook.

Bell of the Ball
Fire and Ice
Flirtatious
Fly Me To The Moon
Precosia
Thunder Egg
Venus Rising

Just some ideas if none has been chosen yet...

Farmer D

I'm curious to know as well.

Also, there is a Facebook page? Can't seem to find it.

I know there is an HVH twitter page but I am not aware of anything on FB for HVH yet.  Could be wrong...

Farmer D

Yes, the 2012 HVH Hibiscus of the Year will be announced in the February news letter due out within 2 weeks. Thanks for asking.

Cindy has a Facebook page that can be found by searching Cindy Black hibiscus. She doesn't have time to be real active but she has a lot of hibiscus friends around the world who show up there. With the HVH web site, forum, and newsletters we feel like we have sufficient internet presence. I figure if we can't do it well we shouldn't do it at all so no Facebook for now.

Charlie

Cindy & Charlie you did a fantastic job in the Feb 2013 newsletter by going back all the way to 2000 and naming not only the hibiscus of the year but also seedling of the year.  All those selected are amazing hibiscus and very deserved in their place of fame.

One honorable mention I would like to throw out there is Chariots of Fire.  I know the blooms might not be as dramatic as those of the winners but the sheer ferocity of which it likes to bloom is just crazy amazing!  Talk about some seriously floriferous genetics to use down the road...

Hey since I'm in the Hollywood area I wonder if the city would let me start a hibiscus walk of fame on my sidewalk.  Now that would be so awesome...

Farmer D

Thanks Darren. These are spectacular photos of Chariots of Fire. I just got word that a very large commercial grower who covers the eastern half of the USA is coming out this year with Chariots of Fire in garden centers and box stores like Loews and Home Depot. It must be working for them in similar fashion -  lots of blooms!

Charlie

Its a cv that has a lot going for it, it occasionally throws out a super bloom even in the heat here like this one I had a couple of months ago. To me its the perfect first cv to start your collection, not only is it so easy to grow and take cuttings, you have a hell of a job to kill it haha, its pretty tough and if it is as you say Charlie it could get a lot of people interested in fancy Hibiscus.

David that bloom of Chariots of Fire is by far the nicest I've seen so far for COF.  That eye is really something special.  I started adding some iron to my feedings in hopes I can replicate some of the intense colorations you always get with your blooms.  I'm thinking the heat there also is a factor too so I don't know how much progress I will make, but worth a shot.

Charlie - I was curious how that works when you are the hybridizer of a cultivar and someone else wants to commercially sell what you have created and sell as well.  Can they just do it without any consent or did you ship them a bunch of babies to start them off?  If that goes well they need to see your HOTY list you just compiled!!!

Farmer D

Darren, the only way to protect a plant variety is for the hybridizer to patent it - expensive and time consuming. Most top level growers respect the hybridizer's rights and try to work with them rather than just steal the variety outright although there are exceptions.There's no protection without a patent and the rules for patent eligibility are stringent - such as not having shown the variety publicly before applying for the patent. 

I'm working with 2 big growers to release a limited number of HVH varieties to the mass markets. Acapulco Gold is the other one with Chariots of Fire that is about to be shipped in larger numbers. It's a slow process and the hybridizer has little control over what happens to his plants once he gives them over to the grower. Sometimes they rename them to fit their own marketing program, but to me the important thing is that the plants are out there to stimulate more interest in hibiscus and hopefully more interest in our newest varieties found only in the HVH online store. We are a very small operation in comparison to the big growers, but our sales have increased steadily every year and have continued to do so through the economic downturn. That's a pretty good indicator that these beautiful flowers are still growing in popularity as more people are exposed to them.

Charlie

I totally agree with you both that that could be a good way to a larger exposure to many new customers who probably never knew about exotic hibiscus.  We all love it when we see someone's reactions when they see an exotic hibiscus blooms for the first time.  That is a neat life moment when a grown adult who has seen many things is floored by something they didn't know could exist...and so big at the same time!  I guess those moments might be occurring soon at some big box stores - who would have thought?

Charlie being a smaller scale operation compared to the large corporate growers are you concerned about running out of room at some point to handle higher future volumes?

For a while now I can see how beneficial in this same exposure element it would be for HVH to set up a Facebook page.  I know that you and Cindy are so pressed for time to have to deal with another item to maintain would be extremely difficult.   

What's really amazing is that FB is worldwide exposure for friends of people who would not ordinarily be looking for flowers or hibiscus and all of a sudden on their daily news feed from their friends pops up a pic of an exotic hibiscus bloom.  They weren't googling it or searching for it, just what one of their FB friends posted to FB and it found them - that is a big difference as to looking for it first.  I get dozens of responses all the time from non-hibiscus people going nuts over these flowers pics I post there.  Yep - exposure is the key aspect for sure!

Ironically on FB most of my friends I have never met or heard of before.  They are all hibiscus lovers like us from all over the world - really cool!

Farmer D  

Darren, I know what you mean about the Facebook exposure. My wife is very active on that and communicates with people all around the globe who are into dog breeding and dog shows. She has started showing some of my hibiscus pictures and gets lots of enthusiastic responses from people who want to know more about these beautiful flowers.

Erny

Darren, I know what you mean about seeing people react to hibiscus for the first time. I always remember an older man who approached me at an Orange County flower show and with much emotion told me how he could not have cared less about flowers his entire life until he saw our flowers. His enthusiasm for them was inspiring.

You asked about space to grow enough plants. That limitation is already starting to be felt although there are still ways to use the existing space better and more efficiently. We bought the Hemet property, with 5 flat acres, thinking that some day we could move the operation there and build all the greenhouse space we are likely to need or want to manage. I still hope to do that but the cost of building new and modern steel greenhouses is very high. For them to work well they need to be equipped with high tech stuff that is also very costly. The company has good credit but getting the financing to build greenhouses these days is going to be a big challenge. If we ever get it done we will have Open Houses once again.

Charlie