(Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Crimson Eyed’)
Crimson Eyed Rose Mallow Hardy Hibiscus is a native perennial flower that grows in wet areas such as river banks, marshes, floodplains, and swamps from New York to Texas. At maturity, this plant reaches a height of 3-7' and features hairy stems, lance-shaped leaves, and 6-9” wide hollyhock-like, 5-petaled white flowers with a crimson center. This plant attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, tolerates frost, and is used as a cut flower!
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General Information
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Germination
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Seedlings
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Crop Care
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Seed Saving
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Companion Planting
Genus: Hibiscus
Species: moscheutos
Variety: Crimson Eyed Rose Mallow
Also Known As: Marshmallow Hibiscus and Swamp Rose Mallow.
Native to: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
Introduced into: Algeria, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, France, Italy, Korea, Ontario, Portugal, Romania, Transcaucasus, Uzbekistan.
Ease of Growing: Easy
Grown As: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Maturity (Blooms): Jul , Aug , Sep.
Hardiness: This variety is very hardy and can tolerate frozen temperatures up to -13°.
Water: High
Light: Sun: min. 6 hours daily (Warm, Hot). Full sun.
Soil Moisture: Moist , Wet
Soil pH: Acidic (pH 6.8)
Aquatic: yes
Soil Description: Moist to wet, slightly acidic soils, fine-medium textured.
Conditions Comments: Clumps of Hibiscus start to grow late in the season and flower over a long period in late summer.
Attracts Beneficial's: Yes. Bees, Butterflies and Hummingbirds. The foliage may be used as a butterfly larval host by Hairstreaks, Blues, Coppers, and others.
Containers?: Yes.
Plant Size: 3-6'
Spacing: 2-3'
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-10 (mulch in 5, 6, 7, 8)
Produces: hairy stems, lance-shaped leaves, and 6-9” wide hollyhock-like flowers that have 5 white petals with a crimson center.
Uses: Excellent for adding bold summer color to the perennial garden and landscape. You can also use them as the center piece for large container gardens, in bog gardens, at the edges of ponds, or in any other sunny and consistently moist site.
They are perennials so come fall the frost will kill the top of the plants but the roots will be fine. Sometime after they have gone through a hard freeze where the temperatures drop below freezing for at least a few hours go ahead and cut them back to stubs or only three or four inches from the ground. If you want you can wait and do this early spring.
Come spring they are a little slow to get started so be patient. But once they start growing they really take off and by the end of July, early August they start making flowers.
Suggested Varieties
(Asclepias incarnata ‘Swamp’)
Swamp Milkweed is a native clump-forming perennial flower that grows in wet areas such as swamps and river edges throughout most of the United States. When this plant reaches maturity, it typically grows to 3-4 feet. It has lance-shaped green foliage that measures 3-6 inches in length and produces small clusters of pink flowers that give off a pleasant aroma. This plant can be grown in a container, attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, is resistant to deer, tolerates drought, is used to make cordage and fabric, self-sows, is both edible and medicinal, and is used as a cut flower!