Cold Hardy Hibiscus a Colorful Addition to Any Summer Garden

The cold hardy Hibiscus is a great summer flower which is a must have in perennial gardens (Growing Zones 4 & 5).



Cold Hardy Hibiscus Comes In A Variety of Colors










This perennial is great for border plantings, used singly as a specimen plant or very effectively in a mass planting mixed with other perennials and annuals.

Let’s forget all plant nomenclature associated with this plant variety which is in the mallow family, Hibiscus moscheutos (Swamp-rose Mallow or Rose mallow) and other Hibiscus varieties. There are too many hybrids and Hibiscus varieties , which have been cross-pollinated with H. moschentos to produce a wide selection of hardy Hibiscus flower colors.

When shopping for this plant either at the garden center  or searching  over the internet, request or google "cold hardy hibiscus" as often times Rose of Sharon and Tropical Hibiscus will be incorrectly suggested.

Unlike the Tropical Hibiscus of Florida and other warm regions, the cold hardy Hibiscus is a perennial which dies to the ground in the winter, sprouts up from its roots in very late spring, and blooms in midsummer to early fall.

Cold hardy varieties of Hibiscus easily spread by seed and roots and often times will form spectacular large plant colonies of colorful large paper plate sized flowers.

General Culture:
Hibiscus thrives in moist, organically rich soils, but does surprisingly well in average garden soils as long as those soils are not allowed to dry out. Regular deep watering is advisable. These Hibiscus tolerate  some light shade, but full sun with good air circulation produces the best flowers, strongest stems and the best environment for resisting potential diseases.

Plant your Hibiscus  in locations protected from wind to minimize risk of windburn and the toppling of the tall plants. When the Hibiscus has finished blooming in late autumn and the leaves are yellowing,  cut back stems to approximately 3-4". These stem remnants will also act as a marker so the plant can be located the following year.

New growth shoots are slow to emerge in spring. However, once new growth begins the Hibiscus grows quite rapidly. Hibiscus plants will benefit from regular fertilization during the growing season.
　
One of the best of the cold-hardy Hibiscus is ‘Lord Baltimore’. This plant is vigorous, sturdy, erect and a somewhat shrubby, woody-based Hibiscus cultivar that typically grows 4-5’ tall and features dinner plate-sized, 5-petaled, hollyhock-like brilliant red flowers.

With all Hibiscus varieties, the flowers only last one day, but one or more flowers usually opens the following day to replace the spent blooms and providing a long mid-summer to early fall blooming period.


Click on the following: 

Hametownshoppes Garden Products Cold Hardy Hibiscus
to view the selections of Cold Hardy Hibiscus available now or later in the season. 

Remember, cold hardy Hibiscus germinates quite readily by seed!

　
　
　

Ornamental Grasses Are Colorful and Require Minimal Care

With Rose of Sharon, zinnias, dahlias, and cosmos in bloom, the summer gardens are at their peak of summer color. However, when the ornamental grasses leaf out, the summer landscape is most definitely completed!

Ornamental grasses are a very popular category of landscape plants for both the residential and commerical landscapes. The grasses are popular because they

• are colorful
• are hardy
• provide different seasonal textures to the landscape other plants cannot
• can be somewhat drought tolerant

Much like the different lawn grasses, ornamental grasses are divided into two categories, warm and cool season grass.

Warm season grasses begin growing quickly in late spring and early summer whereas cool season grasses begin greening up in early spring. Popular cool season grasses include fescues, blue oat grass, and autumn moor grass. Popular warm season grasses include northern sea oats, hardy pampas grass, fountain grass and switch grass.

Care is very simple and may only require

• A very light fertilization if any at all
• Every two to three years a possible divisions of a grass clump
• A spring hair cut of cutting the previous grass leaves  back to 2-6 inches above the ground depending on the variety

Click on picture to enlarge view:

Samples of Ornamental Grasses

For Dramatic Leaf Color Use the Sweet Potato Vine

When driving around neighborhoods or commercial gardening sites, you may have noticed pots or flowerbeds with long light green chartreuse or dark purple leafed vines spilling over flowerpots or out of hanging baskets.

Most likely, you are seeing the ornamental sweet potato vine.

I was introduced to this great plant and now it’s use has moved out of the flowerpots and is planted with greater frequency as a quick growing annual ground cover among annual flowers.
　
The Ornamental sweet potato vine, Ipomoea batatas, is a true sweet potato complete with tubers. Thought the vine is selected for its bolder and more colorful foliage than its vegetable sibling it is not as sweet as those tubers, which are grown for eating.

Though related distantly to morning glories, which are started with seed, cuttings are usually taken  from an existing vine or a cut portion of a tuber to begin new vine propagation.

Sweet Potato Vine likes a sunny, moist well-drained soil and often times will appear to wilt in the hot mid-day sun. With a quick watering, the vine perks right up.

There are three main colors of sweet potato vine. The varieties and colors are:
　

• 'Blackie' which has deep purple to nearly black foliage with large, deep cut leaves.

• 'Marguerite' has bold, chartreuse green, heart-shaped leaves

• 'Tricolor' is a less-vigorous variety with multi-colored variegated leaves in shades of green, white, and pink

Easy To Grow, Zinnias Make Great Cut Flowers and Attract Butterflies

When purchasing flowers for the garden, there is a tendency to want instant gratification and purchase the already grown plants available in plant packets.

If you are doing commercial landscape installation, the need for already grown plants is understood. However, many annual flowers do best when sown directly by seed into the garden.

One such annual flower to grow directly as seed in the garden is the Zinnia.

Zinnias bloom from mid-summer all the way until frost. Though there are about 10 species of Zinnia, Zinnia elegans is most popular and there are many hybrids derived from that species and the crossing of some other zinnia species.

Originating in Mexico, Zinnias thrive in hot climates and need sunny areas to grow.

Depending on the variety, Zinnia plant height range from 2-3 inches to about 3 feet. Besides the size of the plant, Zinnias come in a variety of colors as yellow, orange, white, red, rose, pink, purple, lilac and multi-colored blooms.
　
Deadheading is the removal of dead flowers. To continue to have an extended blooming season, removing the spent zinnia flowers and the flower's attached single stem will assure a longer blooming period.

The cultural requirements for zinnias are simple. As already stated, Zinnias need full sun and a soil which is humus rich and well-drained.

Besides attracting multitudes of butterflies to the garden, Zinnias also make great cut flowers and are a great plant to introduce to young children gardeners.




The Many  Flower Types and Plant Sizes of Zinnias



Rose of Sharon---Late Flowering; Easy to Grow; and Comes in Many Flower Colors and Shapes

The Rose of Sharon is now in bloom in most of the Ohio gardens and this bush brings a great deal of color in addition to the annual flowers and late blooming perennials.

The Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus, is a flowering shrub native to Asian and is the national flower of South Korea. Initially treated as a non-hardy plant, English gardeners learned quickly the shrub can survive cold winters quite nicely.

Rose of Sharon has no autumn color and has a stiff ungainly look if badly pruned. Often times, considered to be an old-fashioned flowering shrub, it is often times not recommended to be used in most modern landscaping.

However, this shrub in bloom adds a great deal of color to the home landscape.

Starting to bloom as early as June, it will often time bloom through September.

Because Rose of Sharon readily drops seed, the seedlings will spring up throughout the garden much like a weed. I have allowed many of the seedlings to achieve some height---two to three feet---and then I have transplanted them in other areas of the garden or along my fence line for an informal flowering summer border.

This propensity to drop seed has deemed the plant to be a pest by many gardeners.

Rose of Sharon cultural requirements are:

• full sun is best, but tolerant of partial shade
• not particular about soil types
• easily transplanted ( I have transplanted in the fall and early spring with equal success)
• annual pruning back will result in increases shoot vigor and larger flowers
• likes hot weather
• winter killed stems should be removed and a spring trimming to shape the shrub. Because flowers occur on the current year’s growth, prune right after flowering or early spring before the shrub starts to leaf out.

Rose of Sharon comes in a variety of shades of purples, pinks, and white colors. Again, white is such a great color and mixing it with other darker colors offers great color contrast.