Summertime in the garden is set to the tune of cicadas in the trees and can take on a sometimes dreamy feeling in the heat. We need an ice-cold drink to walk through the garden and sometimes need an escape that reminds us of beach vacations. Well, gardens can be their own Eden that you can fill with plants that can take you wherever you want to go: to a memory of a person or to a porch with a coastal breeze. The native rose mallow, Hibiscus moscheutos, will give your garden a tropical flair without the hassle of having to wash the sand out of your bathing suit.

Tropical Vibes

Hibiscus moscheutos is a hardy perennial native to the Southeastern United States. Stems start emerging in April and flowers start to arrive in about June. It will put on new flowers for four to six weeks, with flowers mostly open in the morning hours. The straight species flowers range from white to light pink, with a deep ruby red eye in the center of the flowers to attract bumblebees. Don’t let its tropical look fool you; it will be back next year bigger and better than ever. It prefers consistent moisture in the soil, but is tolerant of droughts and drier soils; it just may not be as big and lush. Most plants will reach about 5-7 feet tall and about 7-10 feet wide at maturity. The large leaves are showy and shield-shaped.

This is a phenomenal pollinator plant. Bumblebees and hibiscus bees busily visit flowers early in the morning, and other pollinators wander in too. According to the Florida Native Plant Society, rosemallow is also a host plant for several butterfly and moth species: Gray Hairstreak, Painted Lady Butterfly, Common Checkered Skipper, Tropical Checkered Skipper butterflies, Pearly Wood Nymph, Yellow Scallop Moth, Io Moth, and Delightful Bird-Dropping Moths

A Kaleidoscope of Colors

Modern breeding work with the native Hibiscus, of which there are about a dozen native to the Southeast, has yielded some incredible colors, shapes and sizes. The breeders at Walters Gardens in Michigan have a Hibiscus for every taste, in a rainbow of colors and leaf shapes, with Hibiscus moscheutos as the backbone. The flowers can be blood red with dark foliage or perfectly white with crisp green foliage, and all with the petals almost perfectly whorled and flattened for maximum effect. They don’t call them dinner plates for no reason. Some of these flowers can reach 12 inches across under the right growing conditions (mainly even moisture). Cultivated varieties also have been selected to not flop over with the weight of these enormous flowers. When you grow the wild, straight species, you never quite know what you are going to get!

Pests to Look Out For

Hibiscus moscheutos is a pretty tough plant for being a tropical beauty. That being said there are some pests to consider and be on the lookout for. Japanese beetles can be annoying and eat flowers and foliage in yards with heavy Japanese beetle pressure. These are easily dealt with by knocking them off into a bucket of soapy water when you see them. Deer can come by for nibbles if they are especially hungry. There is a native hibiscus sawfly that can cause widespread skeletonizing of the leaves, but they are only around for a couple of weeks. It is important to get these properly diagnosed because the larva can look like a caterpillar, but they are a type of wasp, not a butterfly or moth.

Finally, you may want to keep those crazy chefs away from your plants! Rosemallow is the original “marsh mallow”. The stems become slimy when cooked and can be whipped into a fluffy consistency (like egg whites). This was mixed with sugar and used as a delivery system for bad tasting medicines, according to the Florida Native Plant Society.

The native rosemallow, Hibiscus moscheutos, is a great addition to any garden where you need a tropical getaway.