Now’s the Time to Plant Hardy Hibiscus

 

If you’re looking to add spectacular color to your summer garden for many seasons to come, plant hardy hibiscus. Blooming from mid-summer to first frost, Hibiscus moschetto's or hardy hibiscus are tough, resilient perennials that can take our winters and come back strong.

Also called rose mallow, these cold-hardy woody-based perennials were developed from native plants and are hardy down to Zone 5. Hardy hibiscus is an easy to grow perennial. They like their place in the sun, so select a site in the garden where they'll get as much sun as possible. They can be grown in partial shade, such as an East-facing location, but the flower production may not be as great.

Once established, hardy hibiscus can easy grow 6' high and 6' across so keep this in mind when you're choosing a planting spot. There are dwarf varieties of hardy hibiscus that only get about 3' tall and 3' wide, if you don't have room for a full-sized plant.

Hardy hibiscus like well drained soils, so prepare the planting site by adding organic soil amendments that include compost and peat moss to your existing soil at the rate of about 50:50. Add some Root Stimulator to the planting hole to ensure good root production.

Hardy hibiscus flowers only last a day, but the flower production will go on all season, right up to first frost. In our area, the canes will die back after the first hard frost. Once this happens, cut the canes to the ground.

Around Thanksgiving, apply a two-to-three-inch layer of mulch. This will help keep the ground stable and retain moisture. Water the root ball occasionally during the winter. Hardy hibiscus plants are among the last to emerge in the spring, so give them plenty of time. Too often, people think the plant has died over the winter when in fact it's still alive, just dormant and slow to make an appearance. 

‘Dark Mystery’ 

‘Candy Crush’ 

‘Midnight Marvel'

Hardy hibiscus comes in shades of white, pink, red, and purple with different eye patterns and leaves that vary in color from green to bronze and near black. Planting hardy hibiscus will add unique color to your garden landscape for many seasons to come.

Please note that hardy hibiscus differs from tropical hibiscus. Flowers and foliage are similar in appearance, but tropical hibiscus will not survive our winters. They must be grown indoors when the weather turns cold.  

 

How to Grow and Care for Butterfly Bushes

 

When it comes to adding color and interest to the garden, it’s hard to beat the butterfly bush. Available in a variety of colors, butterfly bushes will bloom continuously from mid-summer through fall.  These easy to grow, sun-loving shrubs come in an array of rich colors and will attract pollinators. Sun-loving are key words when it comes to growing butterfly bushes. To do their best, butterfly bushes need a minimum of six hours of sunlight every day. Anything less will result in reduced flower production.

Butterfly bushes need to be planted in well-amended soil. Whether you’re dealing with our native clay or some cases, sandy soil, it’s important to add organic material at the rate of 50:50 to the planting site. For best results, use locally produced products such as Earth Essentials. They’re designed to work in our soils. Dig the planting hole twice as wide and once again as deep as the container the butterfly bush came in. A wide hole allows roots to grow out into the amended soil to gather moisture and nutrients. The easier you make this expansion possible, the faster each plant will adapt to its new environment. Once the planting hole is ready, fill it with water and observe how long it takes to drain. If it takes more than five minutes, the soil to organic material ratio is wrong, and you need to add more organic material. Once the site is ready, apply a treatment of Root Stimulator to the planting hole, then remove the butterfly bush from its container.

You may see roots circling at the bottom, as this one does. Gently pull them loose and spread them out in the planting hole. Back fill with amended soil, using enough to create a shallow basin to facilitate watering. Once in the ground, it’s important to keep plants evenly moist. This is best done by checking each new planting daily and hand watering as necessary. Water slowly. Fill the basin you built around each plant and let the water slowly seep in. Don’t rely on automatic irrigation for the first few weeks. Applying mulch to new plantings is an effective way to conserve water and reduce heat stress on your plants. 

A 2- to 3-inch-thick layer of Mountain Magic Soil Pep mulch can reduce moisture loss from your soil due to evaporation.  During the blooming season, it’s important to remove spent flowers promptly. This is called deadheading and it’s done to keep the plants energy focused on flowering, not on seed production.

Cut the spent blossom branches back to the first juncture. Feed your butterfly bush through the bloom season with a general-purpose fertilizer such as 11-15-11 or 4-9-3 organic with beneficial mycorrhizae. In our climate, a butterfly bush grows more like a perennial, dying back to the root crown each fall and reappearing in spring. Late fall, early winter is the time to prune butterfly bushes. After a hard frost, prune butterfly bushes to the ground. Around Thanksgiving, water thoroughly and apply a two-to-three-inch layer of mulch. This is to help keep the ground cold and stable.   

  

Buzz™ Hot Raspberry    

  

Monarch® Collection ‘Glass Slippers’   

  

  

On a closing note: butterfly bushes tend to be one of the last plants to leaf out in spring, so it’s important to be patient. It may be mid-June before your butterfly bush begins to show.