Other Names:  Makino's Hardy Mallow

Description:

This bold garden shrub features showy pale pink flowers with cream centers, from dark pink buds over attractive, fuzzy green, maple-shaped leaves; ideal for the mixed garden border or massed; dies back to ground in colder zones, re-emerging in spring

Ornamental Features

Okinawan Hibiscus features showy shell pink round flowers with buttery yellow eyes at the ends of the branches from early to mid fall, which emerge from distinctive rose flower buds. It has bluish-green foliage with light green veins. The fuzzy lobed leaves do not develop any appreciable fall color.

Landscape Attributes

Okinawan Hibiscus is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects
• Self-Seeding

Okinawan Hibiscus is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Okinawan Hibiscus will grow to be about 7 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 4 feet apart. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by cuttings.

Okinawan Hibiscus makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.