This shrub in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada looks like very similar to a white hibiscus specimen. Could it be a cultivar? The center of the flower is very showy. Status: Shrub overwintered outside. Morning sun & afternoon shade. Flowering began in late July. Shrub about 6 feet in height. It did not get much water this summer. Soil: rich soil over clay. Thanks
Denis I am quite hopeless for remembering names. All I know is that most hibiscus are cultivars, created by hybridizing. I guess in your case this hybrid is cold hardy, in which case it would come under the genus called 'Rose of Sharon'. Here they have gone the way opposite to what I am trying to get my maples to go. Aren't they all a sight of beauty?
Jamkh....Rose of Sharon is the common name for Hibiscus syriacus. Hibiscus is the genus, syriacus is the species. H. syriacus is a cold hardy representative of the genus that also contains tropical (NOT hardy) species. What ever the name of the cultivar ('Red Heart'), it is a hybrid of H. syriacus and will have a hardiness that is similar to the species. In some genera, hybridizers have bred a tropical species with a temperate species resulting in an interspecific hybrid of intermediate hardiness. If you're trying to breed your maples into ones that are either tropical or don't require dormancy, good luck, you don't have enough years to do that. Best start with a tropical maple (ie A. oblongum or A. laurinum) instead. Simon
Simon, Appreciate your comments. Never would have realized we have any tropical specie of maples. With them now I can cross breed for tropical conditions. THanks.
They look like my rose of sharons i have in the side yard here in Tn. I have similar ones out front that are dark purple colored. I think they have several deffrent colors if they are in fact sharons?
