Dinner Plate Hibiscus - Hibiscus moscheutos



(Disco Belle Pink Hibiscus - Johnsen Landscapes & Pools)

The Earth Laughs in Flowers - Ralph Waldo Emerson


Want your garden to laugh? Giggling with pink, red, and white? Then Hibiscus moscheutos or Swamp-rose Mallow is the answer for you!
  
(Lord Baltimore Hibiscus - Spring Hill Nursery)
 
My personal name for them is Dinner Plate Hibiscus (a better moniker, in my humble opinion) since the blossoms can be almost 9" across.

Hibiscus moscheutos is a tall, cold-hardy perennial with huge flowers that is a native to wetlands and riversides of southeastern United States from Texas to the north Atlantic states. It naturally grows in large colonies.

(Lady Baltimore Hibiscus)

You can grow Hibiscus moscheutos easily in average to wet soils in full sun. (Do not allow them to dry out!)  Good air circulation is important for preventing potential diseases and they should be protected from wind. Deadheading is essential. Cut back stems to approximately 3-4" in late fall.


(Johnsen Landscapes & Pools - Disco Belle)

The display of this magnificent, 4' - 6'  high plant from mid July - September is stunning!

Planted in groups behind other shorter plants is best. I have used them in foundation plantings, along fences and in raised planters. They add a tropical feel to any setting and butterflies love it! Ideal for hedges, screens, borders and cottage gardens. They are unbeatable for the late summer garden (regular fertilizing helps) and they come back every year.

What could be better? Plant Now!

 
(Jan Johnsen - that is 'Blue Shag' White Pine in front)
 

Comments

  1. Antique ART GardenMay 8, 2010 at 10:06 AM

    Great post, thanks, Gina

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beverly SeatonMay 8, 2010 at 8:47 PM

    Love that notion that they are laughter in the garden (and not the subdued sort in T.S. Eliot's garden in the first part of "Burnt Norton"--one of my favorite literay gardens).

    I planted one of the silly big red ones last year but forgot to check the deer stats. They are listed as tasty by the deer, but they did not get to my plant last year. This year it is making many shoots; hope they don't chonp them down. They look like they might also attract our resident woodchuck.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Christine B.May 9, 2010 at 2:08 AM

    Wow, those are huge blossoms. Does the rain damage them much? I've never seen one here but I'll try to run one down.

    Christine in Alaska

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jan JohnsenMay 9, 2010 at 6:22 AM

    The blossoms last but for a few days - so you'll have to remove spent flowers but they do continue to bloom through late summer..

    woodchucks are the worst pest of all. period.

    silly red ones, indeed.....silly does the trick! now I am going to look up 'Burnt Norton'...

    ReplyDelete
  5. kalena42@hotmail.comJuly 5, 2012 at 5:24 PM

    Where can I get these plants>?

    ReplyDelete

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