Heavenly hibiscus
Exotic beauties exude fragile glamour – but they’re as tough as old boots...
EVERYTHING about its appearance would suggest that Syrian hibiscus is a tender beauty that’s likely to turn up its toes at the mere mention of frost; its flowers are large, brightly coloured and impossibly exotic, while the lobed leaves sometimes don’t even emerge until late May – surely a sign it’s trying to avoid a late cold snap?
Even the common name, and the botanical one (Hibiscus syriacus), give the impression that it comes from the Middle East and will need a bit of mollycoddling in our climate. After all, plants from those lands are used to long, hot, dry summers, and mild winters with little rain.
Well, these deciduous shrubs are much tougher than they first appear. They are happiest in full sun but are fine in light shade, and can be grown in just about any type of soil.
Wind doesn’t s eem to phase them and they are tolerant of drought. Best of all, they will easily cope with temperatures down to -15C.
Sixteenth Century botanists are partly to blame for creating the wrong impression by giving them a misleading name. These plants were certainly grown in Syria but had actually travelled along the old trade routes from the Far East, where they grow wild on mountain slopes.
Plant breeding took off in the late 1800s and some early introductions are still around, such as Hibiscus syriacus ‘Lady Stanley’ and ‘Jeanne d’Arc’. However, most of the 100 or so varieties available from nurseries today were developed in the 20th Century. Their single or semi-double flowers generally open from late summer till mid-autumn, and come in shades of white, pink, mauve, purple and blue – many boast a contrasting central ‘eye’. Mature shrubs will eventually reach 6ft to 10ft, depending on variety, and are capable of carrying hundreds of blooms.
A French export from 1958, ‘Blue Bird’ (also sold as ‘Oiseau Bleu’), is probably the best- known hibiscus, with violet- blue flowers with a dramatic dark eye, while ‘Red Heart’ has white flowers with red markings. ‘William R. Smith’ is an excellent pure white variety that made its bow at the turn of the 20th Century. Another white one worth growing is ‘ Diana’. It was first in a succession of varieties named after Greek and Roman goddesses, including ‘Minerva’, ‘Helene’ and ‘Aphrodite’, a clear pink with magenta heart. Introduced in 1928, ‘Woodbridge’ is a popular variety discovered by chance among a row of seedlings at Notcutts Nursery in Suffolk. Capable of reaching 10ft, it has gorgeous deep pink flowers with a carmine centre measuring about 4in across. The Chiffon series have been around since the late 1990s and are the handiwork of Dr Roderick Woods, an amateur breeder from Cambridgeshire. White, lavender, blue, magenta and pink varieties are noted for their semi- double, ruffled flowers and tidy, upright habit of growth.
IT’S easy to keep hibiscus in good shape. These shrubs are fairly slowgrowing and require very little pruning as they tend to retain an attractive, rounded silhouette – simply remove any wayward branches that are spoiling their outline.
It is possible to restrict the extent of hibiscus by reducing the height of shoots in early spring.
Lollipop-shaped standards are sometimes seen in the gardens of mainland Europe, where they are arranged in pots or popped into beds and appear to float over flowering perennials. Few nurseries offer them over here, but it’s easy to create your own from scratch by starting off with a bareroot plant.
Place in a 12in container and tie the strongest vertical branch to a bamboo cane. Reduce side shoots to a few inches and completely remove competing branches. When the shoot is 4ft tall, prune off the tip to encourage a head of branches to develop.