The coolheaded thing about hibiscus ( Hibiscusspp . ) is that even if it ’s a non - tropical variety , it convey the tropics to your landscape painting with its opulent , velvety petals and flower in a trumpet shape .
If you have just purchased a hibiscus , how can you be intimate if you have a tropic hibiscus ( Hibiscus rosa - sinensis ) or a hardy hibiscus , a categorization that includes multiple species ?
One mode to recite if you just bribe the plant is to find the industrial plant tag , because anything other thanH. rosa - sinensisis a hardy potpourri , meaning that it will die back in the wintertime but return in full strength in the spring .
What if you already have the plant household , ca n’t find the plant tag and the clerk at the nursery ca n’t help you ? What are the defining characteristic between the hardy and tropic miscellany ? First and first , consider the mood .
Tip
The gentle room to tell the difference of opinion between tropic and dauntless hibiscus is to look at the leave . Tropical hibiscus plant have shiny , dark - greenish leaves , while perennial hibiscus have duller leaves that are matte - like and less gullible — and they often have serrated edges .
Weather and Location Offer a Big Hint
A primary indicator as to which hibiscus you have is your location . If you endure in a non - tropical area and have just purchase a hibiscus at a local baby’s room , it will almost certainly be a stalwart hibiscus unless you nail it out of a greenhouse .
No tropic hibiscus could make it through the wintertime in climates colder than USDA plant hardiness geographical zone 9 . If it ’s winter and the hibiscus still has leaves , it ’s a unfearing hibiscus , for sure — although , if it is stale - damage , its leave will go down off , and some or all branches may die back .
If it ’s summertime and your hibiscus is going gangbusters , it could be either . lease ’s search the way hardy hibiscus , also calledperennialhibiscus , take issue from tropical hibiscus when they are both leafed out and flowering .
Hardy vs. Tropical Hibiscus Comparison
Several clues can serve you name the type of hibiscus you are expect at . Here are the primary way :
First Look at the Leaves
A dead game show to the tropical vs. recurrent determination is the feel of the leaves . Tropical hibiscus plants have sheeny , dark-skinned - unripe leaves , while perennial hibiscus have duller leaves that are matt - like and less green . They often have serrated edges .
Consider the Flowering Season
Perennial hibiscuses flower in late summer to early tumble — they are among the last of the summer flowers to bloom . So if you are take care at a fully - blooming hibiscus in June , it ’s likely a tropic variety . Typically , tropical hibiscus plant flower from leaping to fall .
Admire the Flowers
Hibiscus tropic flowers seem , well , tropical . They tend to be large and showy in a wide chain of mountains of fabulous colouring material , including colour not normally see in hardy hibiscuses , such as salmon , yellow , peach or multi - hued . They frequently have double blooms , also unusual in repeated hibiscus .
The peak of hardy hibiscus disagree depending on the species and hybrid . For lesson , H. moscheutosand its cultivar can have enormous blooms up to 10 inches in diameter . Rose of Sharon flower are usually about 3 inch in diam with five petals surrounding white stamens tipped in yellow . H. coccineusflowers are always red , whileH. mutabilisflowers start out out bloodless and vary to knock or blue pink as the sidereal day progresses .
Common Hardy Hibiscus
Most hardy hibiscus plants are herbaceous , although they are winter - hardy , meaning that their stems die back to the ground each class . One type , however , commonly holler Rose of Sharon , is a woody hibiscus , meaning that it retains its branches and structure in winter .
Further , the term " hardy hibiscus " usually refers to one species , H. moscheutos , even though there are multiple winter - dauntless species .
Multiple hybrids exist for each specie , but here ’s a rundown of the master mintage you ’re likely to find in the U.S. :
