Hibiscus, Confederate Rose Mallow 'Rubrus'

I've had this plant for five years, bought originally from Lowe's. It is quite a showy plant with large, medium green leaves, multiple t...Read Moreall stalks reaching 10-12' high, and from mid-summer through frost it has lots of beautiful, vibrant fucshia blooms that are easily 5-7" in diameter with bright yellow/gold stamens and pistil in the center. The flowers have that typical, pretty "hibiscus look" to them.

The plant is root hardy in my zone (6b) and reliably comes back bigger and stronger each year. I have it planted on the south side of my house where it gets blasted by the full sun all day. The soil in that bed is red clay amended with some organic materials, it's still quite heavy. I'm sure the plant will perform even better under improved growing conditions. The plant can tolerate dry conditions but flowers more profusely and looks better overall if watered occasionally during the drier years and/or hottest part of the summer. My plant has never set any seed, but propagates easily from cuttings.

If you have the room for a plant this size and you like lush foliage and tropical flowers, I'd definitely recommend you give this one a try. The only pests I've encounterd with this plant are occasionally white flies during the hottest/drier summers and some type of caterpillar/sawfly larva(?) that are easily washed off with a blast of water. Japanese beetles have occasionally nibbled some of the leaves and flowers but generally leave it alone. I have grown some of the lighter white/pink H. mutabilis from seed this year and am eager to see how the two types compare.

My friend saw this bush...she cut some finger-thick brances off and put them in a pail of water....when they sprouted roots we put them i...Read Moren potting soil in pots....they have done well...the ones I put in the ground are approx 4 ft tall....I have seen two others at different places that were 15-20 ft tall and wide....so beautiful when covered with pink blooms...too bad it is in October and not in the spring....can be cut back drastically....very large leaves with several points....would not make a good privacy screen as they lose their leaves in the winter but make a great shade screen for my outbuilding in the Texas summer