Text by Natalie Schack
Images by John Hook
Floral arrangements by Andrew Mau
To put it lightly, these aren’t your momma’s hibiscuses. The common island flower, in the hands of O‘ahu-based floral outfitter Voodoo Plants, packs an explosive punch with colorful blooms of psychedelic proportions—a far cry from the monotonous red-and-yellow varieties one readily associates with Hawai‘i imagery of yesteryear. Voodoo’s versions are electrifying: two- or three-toned things with a visual ferocity that’s almost physical, like the feeling of being burned or thrust forward at high speed. Imagine a stirring, deep-red center that gives way to the most mesmerizing lavender edged in a simmering hot pink that softens to pale yellow. Or a soft, silky shade that swirls in as lilac and swirls out a velvety gray, with sleek, creamy white petals and a golden stamen rooted in a shock of deep raspberry magenta that is so saccharine you can almost taste it.
Then, there are the hibiscus flowers’ shapes, which have their own sartorial flair. Some balloon out in undulating waves like layers of fluffed silk in a petticoat. Others proffer just a single layer of petals, each smooth on one edge with a wisp of a ruffle where it overlaps with the adjacent petal, creating a natural seam as delicate as a lace-edged skirt. It’s no wonder that the Voodoo name has been generating buzz. Otherworldly and outrageous, these are botanicals that demand your attention. “We love to see the joy from people and the shock factor when people react to these flowers,” says co-founder Ryan Kalaniakea Quick, who started Voodoo Plants with Kyrsten Malulani Pia Kaitoku. “Once you have a hibiscus, [you go] out every single morning just to see which flower is opening. It kind of just gets you up and gets people excited.”
In the realm of botany, some things take time and fastidious care to bloom, while others seemingly sprout with abandon when you least expect it. Some very special, unusual, and unique phenomena, however, require a little bit of both. So it was for Voodoo Plants.
The duo’s journey into the floral industry began as a simple hobby during lockdown in 2020. In a time of unspeakable transition, amid the chaos of a global pandemic, prodigal islanders Kaitoku and Quick found themselves knee-deep in soil, nurturing an unexpected passion that would bloom into something truly extraordinary. First they started with cultivating “weird” vegetables, Kaitoku remembers, the sort you’d never stumble upon at the local grocer, like purple-green tomatoes. With practically no knowledge about horticulture, Kaitoku and Quick planted all the seeds they owned, thinking only a few might sprout. To their surprise, every vegetable seed sprung to life, sparking a curiosity that led the self-taught beginners into the wild and winsome world of tropical floriculture.
That course eventually led to the protean realm of the queenly hibiscus. “[It] just became our obsession,” says Kaitoku, attributing their fixation to “the showy flowers and all of the different combinations you can do. There’s just a whole range of colors.”
Experimental hybridization quickly followed, and the dyad began combining different varieties into brilliant detonations of pigment like two artists playing with paint. With no formal training (Kaitoku’s background is as a chef, Quick’s is as a landscaper), they relied on trial and error, fueled by a passion for exploration and a healthy dose of YouTube tutorials. Together, they approached their newfound hobby unbound by convention or expectation.
Their efforts soon bore fruit, as their unique hybrids began to garner favor within the local community. Voodoo Plants has received an outpouring of support for their creations, beloved by island flower enthusiasts and gardeners. The visual intensity of these moody and melodramatic blossoms also makes them ideal for show-stopping lei and flower art, and with Voodoo’s bloom box, which comes with a variety of statement-making stems, makers can let their imaginations run wild.
As for the future, the duo have big plans. They’ve recently expanded Voodoo’s operations, purchasing a patch of land in Waimānalo that they want to convert into a U-cut flower farm, nursery, and community gathering space. Lining the road at the front fence of the property are their notable hybrid hibiscuses; inside sit a cluster of plots with a variety of other blooms, where chickens cluck cheerfully around the perimeter. At the back of the property, a cleared field is the site of a planned grove for another iconic local flower. “We’re going to dive into plumerias now!” Quick exclaims.
With more growth in sight, Voodoo Plants doesn’t plan to abandon its work of slinging singular and strange florals and concocting unusual hybrids for its ardent fans anytime soon. “It’s our passion. We’re very nature-oriented, very outdoorsy people,” Quick says, describing the practice of tending to flowers and cleaving close to the land as a form of therapy. And when nature’s your medium, the opportunities for growth are endless. “Once you think you’ve seen them all, you see another, and you just fall in love all over again. The list goes on with the varieties that can be made.”
