Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

The rings of color inspired the quirky name of this fine cv. The 8 inch flowers vary in appearance but always have multiple colors arranged around a dark center eye. Of note, Bubble Gum Fun is an offspring of Donna Lynn, my first modern hibiscus and the inspiration for collecting hibiscus. Donna Lynn had gorgeous big flowers but the bush tended to flop and hold the flowers facing downward. This cross with Carmen Keene resulted in a nicely upright bush that presents the flowers well. Not too many Bubble Gum Funs out there yet, but many more will be in the hands of hibiscus lovers by the summer of 2009. Let's hear from you!

Charlie

My plant is 9 months old, in the pot. I have seen several blooms so far. I was really amazed by the color. The bush is upward. I am looking forward to seeing how well it will bloom next spring and how it will react to pruning.

Nina, 9b

Im  think about getting this CV but not sure yet

Might be a good one for limited inside space since it tends to grow taller than wide. The flowers are big and the colors clear and bright.

Charlie

For me illuminati also grows tall rather than wide :D

Looking at those lovely pictures reminds me that Bubble Gum is the only cv i have had die and maybe i should think about replacing it.

Charlie you say this cv grows tall and not to wide,are there ways to stop cv's growing to tall. My garden is on a roof and wind is a problem for me,i have to stake even the smallest plants so keeping the height a bit lower is a big help.

Hey David, pruning causes the plant to fill in with more branches and temporarily keeps it shorter but the stems will still have the same tendency to grow tall and usually thinner. The odd thing about Bubble Gum Fun is that it did not show this tendency in the first couple of generations but only did so in the last couple of years. Not sure why that was but makes me tempted to think a mutation occurred and has been cloned successfully. Or maybe the switch from grafting to rooting it is responsible. Or.........

In any case pruning is your best bet but you can also try reducing fertilizer and water to discourage rapid growth but of course not to the point where the leaves go chlorotic or wilt from shortages. I don't recommend it but there are a number of growth retardant chemicals that are often used by nurseries to turn out compact plants that flower a lot until the stuff wears off. It is stressful for the plants and is widely thought to reduce lifespan.

If you find a strategy that works for you please let us know.

Good luck,

Charlie

Thanks for the advice Charlie, but i shant be doing any of that stuff [reducing fertilizer ect], i struggle now without trying anything fancy like that ha ha. While i am waiting for my new cv's to arrive i have been re-potting all my cv's into 8 inch pots and all the new ones will also be in the same size pot,then if any are getting to tall it will be easy to swap to a position that's safer in the garden [on the ground or protected by a wall].

Someone wrote recently to ask whether Bubble Gum Fun was a good bloomer. I think it is, but you have to work on the bush to get as many branches as possible on it. Yesterday one of the older plants of Bubble Gum Fun decided to show what it can do - I did not have a camera then but went back this morning and got second day photos of it. As they show, BGFun can bloom very well indeed! I had to hold the camera above my head to get a downward angle on the flowers on one shot since the bush stands 6 feet tall in a 5 gallon pot. 4 open flowers from yesterday plus another starting to open today - one open flower on just about every stem - well done Bubble Gum Fun!

Charlie

awesome!

Wow!  I wish mine would perform like that.  Bubble Gum Fun has been no fun for me. I purchased it in 2007 and it's only had 3 small blooms (4 inches) since I've had it and that was about 2 summers ago, not even one bud last year. It's in a 10" pot and seems to grow ok but not enthusiastically. It gets about 3 feet tall including the pot. I've tried growing it in the greenhouse and placing the pot outside in an area that gets morning sun. It won't even bloom inside during the winter in a sunny south facing window where so many bloom very well. It gets the same care as the rest of my collection but what ever it needs I apparently haven't figured out. It gets fed with HVH special blend and at times that is supplemented with the hibiscus booster. I wonder if threatening to relocate it to the compost bin it might do something to inspire it.  Gold Mine, another poor performer for me, could keep it company in there.    LOL

dave

My 'Bubble Gum Fun' just put out its first bloom and while it didn't open all the way this is definitely not what I expected. I don't think I received the correct plant...

Any guesses as to which CV this might be?

thanks!

That's not Bubble Gum Fun but I can't tell what it might be. Was the bloom just opening? Another photo of it when it flattens out might help. Also, what size is the bloom? If you can get a photo of the bush that too could help ID it. Write to Cindy at office@hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com to work out what to do about the misidentified plant.

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

The bloom only opened as far as the first photo shows and it has curled up now so the only info I can provide is from the spent bloom. Would that be of any help? The plant is in a one gallon pot and just starting to leaf out so it isn't much to look at. There are a couple of other buds that I was going to pinch off to allow the energy to be spent on the bush and not the bloom but perhaps I should let one mature to see what shows up. What do you recommend?

The bloom had kind of a black/brown cast to it so I was thinking it might be Black Cherry...is that possible?

Here is the plant...the spent bloom is 4 1/2" from bottom to top

It has different leaves than my black cherry,  It reminds me of Voodoo Magic :)

Hmm and Renaissance Blue is a parent to both...

The leaf at the bottom covers the main stem so I can't see if it is grafted. Is it? All Black Cherry plants are grafted and some Bubble Gum Fun plants were. The bloom as it was this time doesn't seem like anything that we grow, so I am at a loss until more info comes along.

Charlie

No, it's not grafted it's rooted in that spongey material. I guess I'll have to wait for another bloom to provide more info. Thanks for trying.

Hmm I don't think it's a Voodoo Magic... the leaves are similar but the bloom and the spent bloom both show too much pink for VM I think.  If you got a Black Cherry GuamsOrbit you're lucky!

This is a real mystery, of course i have no idea what it is but if the color is true to the photo it looks very nice,a sort of salmon color. David.

This year,my BGF is extremely floriferous and nice. Multiple blooms almost daily. It is in its third year:

So it looks like a maturity thing with Bubble Gum Fun. My stock plants bloom well, but I guess the 4 inch and 6 inch have to get some growth and age before they do, too.

Thanks for these inspiring photos, Nina.

Charlie

Nina,if there was a competition for photo of the month i think we could stop now,absolutely lovely.

Thanks, David,

In fact,I do intent to post this photo for the IHS photo competition.

BGF has colors to die for.

ciao, Nina

This is the first decent bloom I've ever had on my problematic 4 1/2 year old BGF. The colors aren't as vivid as Nina's but at just under 7" it sure beats the few 4" flowers it had a couple of years ago. I don't know if it was the threat to send it to the compost pile or more likely moving it from the thin plastic very dark green pot to a much thicker plastic white pot that has made a difference. Maybe the roots were getting too hot.  It finally seems to be a happier hib. This is a 2nd day photo.

dave

This is a pretty version of Bubble Gum Fun. Finally, it's behaving itself. I hope more buds are on the way.

Charlie

Yay, it's very pretty Dave :)

Thanks Uli and Charlie it has several more buds. This is one of the plants from my first order from you back in 2007. The others on that order were Heavy Metal, High Voltage, Living Legend and Cherry Appaloosa.  The Cherry Appaloosa turned out to be mislabeled and was Fragile Moment which became one of my favorites.  Unfortunately that one died on me last year but the others are still doing very well.

dave

Roadrunner,

It is a beautiful bloom of BGF.
It seems young plants do not bloom well. I also have waited for blooms, but not as long as you. Mine has started being a decent bloomer in its second year.

ciao, Nina

That's good to hear, Nina.

Fragile Moments is such a pretty flower, too bad it is a fragile bush, too. I thought I lost it entirely but found one blooming just the other day so may try to build back some plants of it. Here's a photo of several, not mine so thanks to whoever took it and sent it.

Charlie

Such pretty blooms. They reming me of peonies :)

Wow Charlie, that would be great if you could offer a few Fragile Moments again.
I'd love to get another one.

dave

I have another bloom on my mystery 'bubble gum fun' plant. I didn't see it right away so the bloom has aged but here it is and a shot of the plant. Any ideas?