It’s difficult to believe it’s just a month from winter when you see hibiscus in flower. Nothing makes you feel as warm and tropical as these exquisite plants, and fortunately, there are some that’ll do quite well in cooler South Island gardens, too.
Hibiscus syriacus, ‘Rose of Sharon’, is one that’s fairly cold hardy. It grows about two to three metres tall and flowers madly for weeks on end. You can choose your colours from white through to pinks and blues, in both single- and double-flower forms. Our favourite in the Far North is hibiscus psyche. It’s as tough as old boots and widely planted up this way, particularly in civic landscape designs. It has small, pure scarlet blooms on a long stem so you can wear it behind your ear if you like. However be warned – in Hawaii, wearing it behind the left ear means you’re looking for a partner. Hibiscus schizopetalus, the coral or spider hibiscus, carries no such risk. It’s a tropical plant from East Africa and makes gorgeous lacy lanterns hung on arching branches. It’s fast-growing but frost-tender, and benefits greatly from short back and sides every year or two.
New Zealand has its own native type, hibiscus trionum, that grows in isolated coastal areas of the Far North and on some outlying islands. They call it ‘flower of an hour’ for its short-lived blooms and, somewhat less romantically, bladder weed. It’s an un-assuming wee thing, growing only 40cm high, and it likes dry, exposed coastal conditions.
