Celebrating the Pantone® Color of the Year – Viva Magenta!
Hmmm, that sounds like a good plant name to me.
Pantone® describes it as “a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration.”
I know I’m celebrating! It’s always exciting to see what color Pantone will highlight and how we can pair plants with it. And this year is an especially good choice, horticulturally speaking.
When Pantone revealed its 2023 color of the year a couple of weeks ago, all consumer-oriented industries took note. Some industries can match the color by simply changing the pigment mix in their paint or plastic. But we have to take a look at plants that are already in production.
Last year Ultimate Gray was a bit of a stretch, but when it comes to magenta, Proven Winners® ColorChoice® has a few options. Here’s one of them: PARAPLU ROUGE™ Hibiscus syriacus.
We keep searching and thus far have found no true, red-flowered roses of Sharon, but this is the darkest reddish-pink we’ve ever seen. So, whether you call it rouge or horticulture red, this large-flowered single has been a standout plant in both our trials and our test garden. Plus, the center eye of each bloom is a dead-on match for Pantone’s Viva Magenta 18-1750.
Paraplu Rouge hibiscus is the newest member of our Paraplu™ series of roses of Sharon. All of the Paraplu® varieties are noted for their really big flowers and intense, saturated color. If you want showy flowers in a late summer garden, look no further.
This big beauty will grow 6-10′ tall and 5′ wide. It will show off those Viva Magenta blooms best in full sun and is hardy in USDA 5-9.
Althea? Rose of Sharon? Hardy hibiscus? What’s what?
It CAN be confusing. So I made this video explaining the difference between all of the forms of this colorful genus. Check it out!