Cristmas frost and other cultivars

[Nievesgirl]

I used to have some cv from hidden valley that are no longer available. I was reading that christmas frost has been replaced by a better cv. Which would you consider to be a better version of CF ?

I also had the path, amethyst heart, jazz, and a few I can't remember the names

here are some pictures of the ones i forgot the names of




here is the path and jazz





are any of these still available or have they all been replaced by a better cv ?

[Charlie]

Hi Nievesgirl,

Thanks for posting these photos. It's really neat to see "old frends" after an absence. As you noted, we are always trying to improve on hibiscus varieties and to find new forms and colors and improved bushes.

Christmas Frost has a good bush and great colors in my opinion. The flower was a little smaller than we like, at 6-7 inches usually, but striking anyway. We had trouble propagating it which is the main reason we rarely offer it anymore. Cherry Appaloosa is a newer red and white, with a spectacular 8 inch flower, but a worse bush than Christmas Frost. In fact, it has about the worst bush of any we are willing to offer but the flower is unsurpassed in the red and white range. Rebel Rouser and Peppermint Drop are 2 other newer red and whites that have both good flowers and nice bushes.

The top photo you posted appears to be Lookithat, one of the cutest "mini" flowered varieties we ever offered. Lots of people liked it, but it had a difficult to grow and poorly shaped bush so we discontinued it. A brand new one for us named 'Pixie Prince' has a similar colored mini flower and a better bush. The flower is heavy textured and holds up well. These colors are found in 'Palm Springs', too, which is a 6-7 inch flower on a very nice, strong bush.


The second photo you posted appears to be Lavender Ice, another mini with a 3-5 inch flower. Lavender Ice is unique in color and appeals to a lot of people but it is very slow growing and difficult to propagate so we only have it occasionally nowadays. Varieties that grow better and that have larger flowers with similar colors are the brand new Ice Storm, and its podmate, Snow Storm. Look for more of these to appear in the store later this year and particularly next year. Sugar Plum is another new one available now that might appeal to you. We like it a lot.

The Path in your 3rd photo is gorgeous as always. It was a top seller for us for many years due to the universal appeal of the colors. I used it a lot in hybridizing new varieties and we are focusing more attention on the new varieties these days. Living Legend does not look like The Path but it has many good inherited traits from The Path. One with some similar colors that is an offspring of The Path is Bridal Path, which has an even larger flower that sometimes reaches 10 inches. Another offspring with colors perhaps even brighter than The Path is named Flash Dancer. It's 8 inch flowers and similar bush make it perhaps closest to The Path of all the ones we now offer.

Jazz is a good bloomer but the flower is smaller at 4-5 inches and the bush was slow growing with a tendency to floppiness. The metallic ring around the eye of the flower was really unique and we don't have anything that replaces it yet. Florence Nightengale is a granddaughter of Jazz and does have a similar interesting ring around the eye. That flower is much larger at 7-9 inches but is mostly white rather than the bright orange of Jazz. A beautiful orange flowered variety we now off is Saffron, great color, an 8 inch bloom, and an excellent bush.

You mentioned Amethyst Heart. I lost my own plants of this variety in a move and would like to get it back. If anyone can spare a piece of wood I would much appreciate it!

Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

Charlie

[Nievesgirl]

Christmas Frost has a good bush and great colors in my opinion. The flower was a little smaller than we like, at 6-7 inches usually, but striking anyway. We had trouble propagating it which is the main reason we rarely offer it anymore. Cherry Appaloosa is a newer red and white, with a spectacular 8 inch flower, but a worse bush than Christmas Frost. In fact, it has about the worst bush of any we are willing to offer but the flower is unsurpassed in the red and white range. Rebel Rouser and Peppermint Drop are 2 other newer red and whites that have both good flowers and nice bushes.

The top photo you posted appears to be Lookithat, one of the cutest "mini" flowered varieties we ever offered. Lots of people liked it, but it had a difficult to grow and poorly shaped bush so we discontinued it. A brand new one for us named 'Pixie Prince' has a similar colored mini flower and a better bush. The flower is heavy textured and holds up well. These colors are found in 'Palm Springs', too, which is a 6-7 inch flower on a very nice, strong bush.


The second photo you posted appears to be Lavender Ice, another mini with a 3-5 inch flower. Lavender Ice is unique in color and appeals to a lot of people but it is very slow growing and difficult to propagate so we only have it occasionally nowadays. Varieties that grow better and that have larger flowers with similar colors are the brand new Ice Storm, and its podmate, Snow Storm. Look for more of these to appear in the store later this year and particularly next year. Sugar Plum is another new one available now that might appeal to you. We like it a lot.

The Path in your 3rd photo is gorgeous as always. It was a top seller for us for many years due to the universal appeal of the colors. I used it a lot in hybridizing new varieties and we are focusing more attention on the new varieties these days. Living Legend does not look like The Path but it has many good inherited traits from The Path. One with some similar colors that is an offspring of The Path is Bridal Path, which has an even larger flower that sometimes reaches 10 inches. Another offspring with colors perhaps even brighter than The Path is named Flash Dancer. It's 8 inch flowers and similar bush make it perhaps closest to The Path of all the ones we now offer.

Jazz is a good bloomer but the flower is smaller at 4-5 inches and the bush was slow growing with a tendency to floppiness. The metallic ring around the eye of the flower was really unique and we don't have anything that replaces it yet. Florence Nightengale is a granddaughter of Jazz and does have a similar interesting ring around the eye. That flower is much larger at 7-9 inches but is mostly white rather than the bright orange of Jazz. A beautiful orange flowered variety we now off is Saffron, great color, an 8 inch bloom, and an excellent bush.

You mentioned Amethyst Heart. I lost my own plants of this variety in a move and would like to get it back. If anyone can spare a piece of wood I would much appreciate it!

Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

Charlie

How is White Magic ?

Do you have pictures of Pixie Prince and Palm springs ?

Sorry to Hear that about amethyst Heart , I will asked on another forum if someone has this cultivar maybe you can get it back 

[Charlie]

You asked about White Magic.....this variety has a lot going for it, excellent bloomer often with multiple flowers on the same day, very pretty bush, but what I like about it the most is the particular shades of red and white and the contrast between them. It's one of those that is best appreciated when seen live and in person! The HVH Open Houses that are held the last Saturday of every month from May through October are a good time to view a lot of the flowers that are only known through photos. We put several hundred blooms out for display, including new seedling flowers not even named yet.

Pixie Prince and Palm Springs can be viewed at the page where most of my hybrids are gathered together in one place for easy viewing, unlike the store where varieties come and go all year long. Be sure to click the link under the flower to see multiple photos and a full description.

The link to the hybrids page is http://www.hiddenvalleynaturearts.com/cbcultivars.htm 

I see that we haven't updated that page to include Pixie Prince yet, so below are photos of that cultivar.

Charlie