Rose chinensis minima and hardy hibiscus for Martie (photo heavy)
My little roses sort of retreated a bit in bloom production in the worst of the drought in August but have got their second wind now that night temperatures have cooled down with heavy dew in the mornings plus a small bit of rain. The oldest ones are in the herb bed where they mix happily with such things as lavender, sage, blue oatgrass, a blue butterfly bush and Calamintha nepeta var. nepeta. This is what they looked like there this morning:
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In 2005 we created a new small bed on the front lawn for a Blanc Double de Coubert rose. I planted the 2005 batch of Angel Rose seedlings under the big rose. They do nicely together:
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And the Russian sage in the bed looks great with everything:
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Hardy hibiscuses are odd plants in some ways. I find them to be a bit of a chameleon plant. They seem to start off for the first couple of years looking like soft, fleshy perennial like the one in your picture. After 2-4 years they then seem to become more shrub-like in appearance  the stems look woodier and the leaves get coarser. They still die back to the ground and take their sweet time about getting up in the spring though! Here is what the Disco Belle one in the driveway border looks like this morning as it is in seed-setting phase  this one flowers primarily in August although it still produces sporadic flowers until frost:
Setting seed:
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TodayÂs flower just opening first thing this morning:
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Some flowers from August 15 Â prime bloom season:
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To show how shrub-like these ones are, below is a view of the north side of the driveway border from this morning. The hardy hibiscus blends right in with the potentilla shrubs in terms of size and density.
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When they are all at peak flower production in August, they make a nice show together. This is not a very good picture but itÂs the best one I have - from August 13:
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I think you should persevere with growing hardy hibiscus and put some somewhere in the park. They come in such a wonderful array of colors. The ones below is a seedling of the pale pink ones above. I also have ÂLuna Blush (white with a red eye) although I donÂt like that color combination as much as the pale pink ones. I just added three ÂPinot Noir dark red ones a few weeks ago so I hope they survive and do well next year. They are such great late summer flowers  a burst of exuberance when the garden is starting to fade a bit.
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deanneart
gardenbug
Marian_2
michelle_zone4
ctlavluvr
Sue W (CT zone 6a)
Lara Noles
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., CanadaOriginal Author