Renee fell for this bush that was blooming in three colors in her mother’s garden in Charleston, SC, and wanted to know how it would grow in Florida. She broke a branch and took it home. Although there are many forms, with either single or double flowers, the classic version looks like this. Showy blooms, 4 to 6 inches wide, appear in fall.
They open white, fade to pink in a day, and end up red the next day. One can often see all three colors on the same plant.
Native to China, Confederate Rose isn’t actually a rose, but a species of hibiscus (Hibiscus mutabilis). According to legend, it gets its nickname from the flowers soaking up the blood spilled on Confederate battlefields. Ladies of Mobile, Alabama, gave these flowers to Confederate soldiers returning home from the war. Some people call the plant “cotton rose,” because its leaves resemble cotton foliage and its round flower buds remind them of cotton bolls. Its leaves also resemble maple leaves.
Depending on where you live, Confederate Rose can either become a small tree, a perennial, or an annual. In places that rarely feel frost, it can get huge. In Johnnie Walker’s garden on Edisto Island, South Carolina, there is one 30 feet tall. Imagine something like that loaded with multi-colored flowers each fall! And where it doesn’t get cold, it keeps on blooming. Here in Florida, you can have flowers in December and January.
Confederate rose likes full to part sun and moist, fertile soil. It’ll tolerate poor drainage, but is very happy in the sandy soil and salty air on the beach. It’s a favorite Southern pass-along plant, since it’s so easy to get started. You can sow seeds in spring, but the easiest way to propagate it is to simply root cuttings in water. So if someone you know has this plant, don’t be shy about asking for a piece. It’s what we do down here.
Article by Peter A Roos