September Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Hibiscus mutabilis, Confederate Rose

One of the most requested plants in our garden is the Confederate Rose. You will probably never find this plant in a big box store, and it's hard to find it in any nursery. Yet, this elusive old Southern plant is a favorite of many gardeners.

Confederate Rose is not really a rose, but a Hibiscus, Hibiscus mutabilis, to be exact. 

The blooms of the Confederate Rose are voluptuous, like one might expect from a flower in the South. Although single flowers are out there, I have seen only the many-petaled, double blooming variety that opens light pink and gradually changes to a deep rose-pink on the third day after opening. It is the changing of the bloom color that gives the plant its botanical name, Hibiscus mutabilis. Blooms can be up to 6 inches across. All those petals remind me of the many fluffy layers of the petticoats worn by Southern belles of antebellum times here in the Southeastern United States.

Despite their popularity and ability to thrive in the Southeastern US, Confederate Rose is not native to the South but comes from China. They thrive in the South anywhere that they have time to open their very late flowers before fall frost. This species is a popular passalong plant. 

Height varies from about 8 to 15 feet and the plant grows wider every year (kind of like me, apparently.)

Confederate Rose is an eye-catching foliage plant even before bloom, with large, soft, gray-green maple shaped leaves. 

Like all plants in the Hibiscus family, Confederate Rose grows best in full sun with regular water, but it will bloom quite happily in part shade. This is true especially in areas with very hot temperatures lingering into its bloom time of late summer and early fall. Although this Hibiscus does love water, it can withstand periods of drought that is common in the Southeast.

Confederate Rose will grow in regular garden soil, but it will grow larger and develop more blooms in good fertile soil. 

Once winter frosts burn back the foliage, the entire plant can be cut back to make the garden more tidy. This can be done any time during the winter or early spring. Near the coast, you can let the stems stay if you don’t mind the plant becoming very large. Confederate Rose will resprout from current branches where winters are mild. However, the plant will become 10 feet tall by summer’s end, even when cut back the previous season.  Make sure to plant it where it has plenty of room to spread out.

May Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Roses Everywhere!

Well, gardening tasks last month got me pretty far behind on my blog posts, and I missed a week in April. It's now almost the middle of May and the garden is in full bloom. Roses are blooming all over the place, so I'll show you the pictures I took this week, beginning with the most common, the very popular Knockout Rose.

We now see Red Knockout Rose every where we turn. There's a reason for its popularity. As its name implies, the Knockout Rose truly knocks you out with it's bright red blooms that completely cover the large shrub. It is so easy to grow that it is used in just about every landscaping project whether commercial or private home. You just can't beat the Knockout Rose--it will bloom almost year round in our climate.  Although the grower's tag that comes with the plant states these roses will get about 3 feet tall and wide, they grow to at least 6 feet tall every summer. I'm sure one of my Red Knockout Rose Bushes is at least 10 feet tall. I didn't prune it at all this year. I'm trying to see if it will grow as tall as the house.

This Pink Knockout Rose called 'Blushing Knockout' is a lovely soft shade that complements everything else. It doesn't seem as vigorous as the original Red Knockout, in that it does not need as much pruning to keep it the size I want. I wouldn't prune this one either, but it's planted below my office window, and I want to be able to see out. Even though this shrub is not as large as the Red Knockout, it's still well over 6 feet tall and just as wide.

We have another Pink Knockout Rose but the blooms are a deeper shade of pink, and they are double. It's eyecatching, isn't it? This one might be my favorite Knockout Rose. I just love a vivid shade of pink. My goal is to have it hide an ugly fence, and I think it'll do just that by the end of this summer, if not before. Pollinators are crazy about this rose. I think I'm not the only one who loves it.

My Yellow Knockout Rose is called 'Sunny Knockout.' Visitors tell me all the time that it's the prettiest yellow one they've seen. The photo does not do it justice, because of my lack of photography skills. I should have taken that class at the library last year. So far, Sunny Knockout has required no pruning to keep it within bounds, not that I'd want to. This one is about 4 feet tall right now, and I've had it a couple of years. I don't want to keep this shrub a certain size anyway, since it has the same job as the double pink one--to hide that ugly fence.

Carefree Beauty is one of my favorite roses. The voluptuous pink blooms are huge! This is a rose that just keeps on giving, because it blooms over and over and over again until the first frost. Blooms are as large as my hand. There is a light fragrance, especially when the bush is covered with her large flowers. Carefree blooms begin opening in April and continue to the first frost when the shrub is always still covered with buds. Large orange rosehips develop and are quite showy into the winter. This rose tolerates our very poor clay soil just fine. It is a lovely specimen rose as shown in my photo, but Carefree Beauty would make a great hedge too. I'm picturing a hedge of different shrub roses with mixed but either coordinating or contrasting colors. 

Mutabilis Rose is an old-fashioned China Rose. Single blooms begin as yellow, change to a peachy apricot, then to a deep pink, and finally reddish pink. These bright flowers in different colors all on the same bush at the same time are quite eye-catching and the reason for the common name of Butterfly Rose. This is another rose that will get much larger than the grower's tag will lead you to believe, because ours is at least 10 feet tall and even wider than that. Although blooms are not fragrant, this shrub rose is definitely spectacular in the garden. Another asset is that this rose has very few thorns, so you can clip it or prune it without gloves. I hate to wear gloves, so this is definitely a bonus for me.

My most recent acquisition is a German Rose known as the Blue Rose. Veilchenblau is a rambling rose that is almost thornless, and as you can see, it really is a shade of blue. The small blue/purple blooms with purple stamens cover the whole plant. Even though this rose blooms just once a year, I am excited to add it to my garden.  The fragrance is very nice too. Veilchenblau is classified as a multiflora rambler. This growth habit offers several growing options. It can be grown as a free-standing shrub by pruning it hard right after it blooms. It is lovely grown on a fence as shown in the photo. Or it can be tied to a pillar or column like a climber. It would be beautiful on a trellis or arbor. 

Confederate Rose is Really a Hibiscus

Confederate Rose is a very tall perennial that grows like a shrub in most of the South. Near the coast it will leaf out on old stems, but in most areas, the tops will die back, and the plant will regrow each spring from the base.

Despite their popularity and ability to thrive in the Southeastern United States, Confederate roses are not native to the United States but come from China. They thrive in the South anywhere that they have time to open their very late flowers before fall frost. This species is a popular passalong plant not usually available in your local nursery.

Height varies from about 8 feet in the northern parts of Georgia and Alabama to about 15 feet on the coast.

Confederate Rose is an eye-catching foliage plant even before bloom, with large, soft, gray-green maple shaped leaves. Large blooms four to six inches wide open in September or October. Both double and single flowering forms are available. It is the changing of the bloom color that gives the plant its botanical name, Hibiscus mutabilis. The blooms open as a very soft pink and darken gradually to a deep pink the third day after opening. When in full bloom, the plant appears to have 3 different colored flowers all on the same bush.

Confederate Rose grows best in full sun or part shade. Although average garden soil is fine, the plant will grow larger and bloom more in good fertile soil.  As with all plants in the hibiscus family, Hibiscus mutabilis needs regular water to grow and perform well, but can withstand drought. Water whenever you see the large leaves droop.

Once winter frosts burn back the foliage, the entire plant can be cut back to make the garden more tidy. This can be done any time during the winter or early spring. Near the coast, you can let the stems stay if you don’t mind the plant becoming very large, since Confederate Rose will resprout from current branches where winters are mild. Even when the plant is cut to the ground, it will become 10 feet tall by summer’s end. You cannot make this plant stay small and compact, no matter what you do. Confederate Rose is meant to be a flamboyant, voluptuous focal point in the garden. Make sure you plant it where the large size can be appreciated.

Sources for this plant: Shady Gardens Nursery.

Antique Shrub Roses for A Carefree Rose Garden

Now that our weather is cooling off a bit, roses are beginning to give us another great show. Even the most popular repeat blooming roses often bloom sparingly during our summer heat. I don’t blame them—I don’t think I’d bloom either! But roses, like us, enjoy this time of year, because the temperatures are more to their liking. Mutabilis Rose is one of my favorites. Sometimes called the Butterfly Rose, because the multicolored blooms look as if a flood of butterflies have landed on it, Mutabilis Rose is an antique rose from China. Single petals open yellow, change first to orange, then to pink, and finally turn crimson, with these different colors on the bush at the same time! Mutabilis Rose is almost thornless and retains its glossy green leaves with no spraying. Carefree Beauty is a large growing shrub rose with huge, fluffy double blooms to match. The pure pink blooms are more vivid during the cooler fall season. This rose literally blooms until the first frost, and I've had buds on mine in winter. Blooms are large—up to 5 inches across. Red cascade is classified as a miniature rose, but that’s because of its small leaves and flowers. This rose is certainly not miniature in size or flower power! Once established, Red Cascade is simply covered with blood red double blooms from spring to fall. It makes an excellent groundcover for steep banks but is equally beautiful climbing on a fence or trellis. These roses really bloom continuously all summer, but the fall show is simply spectacular and very welcomed in my garden. If you’re too busy to spray roses, try one of these—they are truly trouble free. Fall is an excellent time to plant roses, because the roots will have plenty of time to become established before next summer’s heat wave. Since we still are not receiving enough rainfall, remember to water regularly after planting, as long as Georgia continues to remain under extreme drought. At least it’s cooler. Enjoy Fall!