Summer! Let’s do this!
If there was ever a plant for summer, it’s Hibiscus. Most Proven Winners® ColorChoice® cultivars are Hibiscus syriacus, but we do have one very fun little hybrid: Pollypetite® rose of Sharon.
It’s a cross between H. syriacus and H. parmamutablis and really quite different from the other rose of Sharon in our collection.
The first difference you may notice is the foliage: it’s larger than the typical althea and deep, dark green. If you’re not fond of the light green foliage of H. syriacus, you’ll love this. It reminds me of the British Racing Green of a Jaguar XJS. I’ll never own a Jag, but I think I can acquire a Pollypetite® Hibiscus.
The second difference, it’s non-invasive! A big plus for anyone who has crawled around on their hands and knees pulling rose of Sharon seedlings out of the ground.
The question is, where to put it? That’s not too tough of a call because another difference is that it’s small and round, growing into a 3-4′ ball. It’s the perfect height for a foundation planting or low hedge, and looks pretty awesome in a container, too.
Maybe I’ll plant them near my deck where they can enjoy the full sun that rose of Sharon need. That will make it easy for me to enjoy the lovely flowers. Really, this is an all-around charmer for the summer landscape.
Pollypetite® will grow in USDA 5-9 and adapts to most soil types.
New sizes and shapes
Pollypetite® is a dwarf rose of Sharon with a rounded habit, but we also have some dwarf Hibiscus varieties with more upright habits, like the Lil’ Kim® series.
Fastigiate varieties are also available; the Pillar varieties have quickly become some of our more popular plants. Both White Pillar® and Purple Pillar® are very tall and quite narrow.
Somewhere in between the two groups are the Paraplu® Hibiscus. A little taller than the Lil’ Kim® varieties and not as narrow as the Pillar plants, they’re still more compact than traditional H. syriacus.
It’s wonderful to have so many new ways to use this adaptable species!
No one addresses the size of flowers of H. Poly petite saying only “large” – given hibiscus have a range from 3” to 10” – What is large? I dislike 6” and over so I want to know in inches the size of polypetite flowers!
Good question! Pollypetite’s flowers are about 3″ in diameter. “Large” is definitely a wiggle word. For a rose of Sharon a 3-4″ flower is big, but perennial and tropical hibiscus have those large 6″+ blooms. Here’s a link to a fun video we made about Hibiscus that we just released this week! https://youtu.be/vvtcziqMnJ8
[…] If a refreshing flock of mid-summer flowers isn’t reason enough to fall in love with this blue beauty, Azurri Blue Satin is also seedless. Anyone who has ever spent an afternoon pulling up seedlings and cursing their decision to plant a ‘Blue Bird’ or other seedy variety will appreciate this. If you love seedless but need something smaller, check out this post about Pollypetite rose of Sharon. […]