Hrrrmph. A hibiscus should not go around masquerading itself as a rose, anyway...

Cheers,
Michelle

Hi Bonnie,

Uh-oh! Paranoia is catching! ;-)

Seriously, I think you may have half and half going on! First of all, never, ever trust the color in a picture you see reproduced somewhere. If you havenÂt seen the plant/flower in person, assume you donÂt really know what color it is. ThatÂs part of the reason I prefer to buy things in person. I know! I know! You live in Dirt!!! (Your little town is much nicer than its name!)

Second, soil conditions, especially the acidity, can affect the color of the flowers on some plants, so itÂs also possible the color someone in the midwest or east is getting would be noticeably different from what you get.

In this case I think you may have actually gotten ÂFreedom, but for whatever reason, it looks different from the picture and description you saw when you ordered it. I google-imaged it, and tho there werenÂt very many pictures, several of them looked like the link below. I bet thatÂs pretty close to what you have blooming. (Heck! Just put your neon sedum next to it and call it your pink garden!)

Since IÂm not into shrubs, I donÂt have any good recommendations for you along that line, but if you could be talked into a perennial, for something tall IÂd be inclined to recommend maybe Helianthus maximillianii, perennial sunflower. Gets pretty bushy after a few years and about 4-5' tall. Nice, clear yellow flowers in late summer, and itÂs xeric. ThereÂs also H. Decapetalus at about 4', or Heliopsis helianthoides, yellow/orange at about 3'. Or HeleniumÂthereÂs several yellow varieties, or ÂMoerheim Beauty is a kind of rusty orange-yellow, most around 3' but some varieties are taller.

I LOVE Joe Pye weed for a tall, and really full, bushy perennial, but thatÂs a kind of reddish purple, so it might be too purple for you.

And then thereÂs always hardy pampas grass (Saccharum, a/k/a Erianthus), and you wouldnÂt need to worry about the color at all! :-)

I never will understand why all the lavender perennials are called blueÂor why "red" perennials, never are!

Skybird

P.S. Will try to answer your email later today. "OK" is a very subjective term!

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Freedom'

Yep, Skybird, that looks just like mine! That's waaay different than the color on the link I posted.

What about the other kind of hibiscus? The ones with the dinner plate sized blooms. How tall do they get, and is there a real red one? Someone on the wintersowing forum sent me seeds this past winter, for an annual hibiscus called 'Sunset'. I believe it is supposed to bloom yellow. Maybe that would work there. The Helianthus max., and the Helenium are possibilities, and I will have to look those other two up, not familiar with them.

Now I just need to figure out where I can move these shrubs, so that they won't be up against the house. My house and pink flowers ... it just doesn't look right. For those of you that think I am just being picky, my home has a reddish, terra cotta colored stucko, which looks okay with a peachy shade of pink, but anything more to the bluer(?) side of pink really clashes.

Thanks for the suggestions,
Bonnie

How about moving your ÂFreedom over along the property line between you and the neighbor who doesnÂt know much about gardening. That would be far enough away from the house to not get the color comparison, and when it grows up it would help screen their yard some. Do I remember right that thatÂs a wet area along there? If so, a hibiscus would be very happy there.

There are a whole lot more hibiscus varieties than I know about, but an old standby red is ÂLord Baltimore. I think that would be the right red for you, but itÂs been too long since IÂve seen it in person to be sure of that. I pretty much remember it to be the red most of the pictures show at the link below. Maybe somebody around here grows it and can be more definiteÂor maybe theyÂll have another variety to recommend. One thing to remember if you go with a hibiscus, tho, is that they come up VERY, VERY lateÂeven here in Denver mine donÂt usually come up till the beginning of JuneÂso there wonÂt be anything there for the first few months of spring. When they do finally come up, they grow so fast you can almost see it!

If you look up the Helianthus decapetalis, the "d" should be lower case! Since I compose in Word, it capitalizes anything that comes after a periodÂwhether I want it that way or not! Grrrrrr! And I donÂt always catch it when IÂm in a hurry, so itÂs wrong in my first post!

Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Lord Baltimore'

Lord Baltimore is true red and so is Fireball. I have never seen a true red Rose of Sharon. If you bought your shrub from Spring Hill, I'm not surprised that the color was a disappointment. I think the people who do their catalogs are color blind. I remember Tony Avent saying that "red" butterfly bushes were only red if you were a color blind butterfly or a guy who writes garden catalogs.
Karen

When we were in the rental in Seattle there was a Rose of Sharon in the yard. It was beautiful. Then my (small) dog dug a few too many holes in the planter and on the side where he was digging the plant was severly stunted. You can see it in the photo. The trunk of the plant is directly above the Gerbera Daisy. Then you can see the pretty flowers. They were light purple with a red eye.

If you want to continue with hibiscus, would white with a red center work for you? I believe there are white "Disco Belle" Hibiscus moscheutos that have a red center. See the image linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red centered white hibiscus

When I did a search to find pictures of 'Lord Baltimore' and 'Fireball', I found this unusual Rose of Sharon on the LazyS website (see link below). Anyone ever heard of this one? They describe it as maroon. Does that mean more brownish red, and less purple than burgandy?

When I selected the Rose of Sharon for the perennial beds, it was described as being "vase" shaped, which I thought would allow me more space for the perennials, since it is small at the bottom. Are the perennial types of hibiscus ('Lord Baltimore', 'Fireball') shaped the same, or are they wider at the bottom, like a typical shrub?

Bonnie

Here is a link that might be useful: Variegated Rose of Sharon

Wow, I know you were wanting red but I really like the color of pink it turned out to be!

Thanks to all who gave such informative posts.

I've never grown Rose of Sharon but was considering it for my perennial/shrub boarders. Is it hard to grow or finicky in CO? Are there certain varieties that do better here or are all hardy? Does it spread or become a nuesance?

It doesn't spread per se but can get pretty big at maturity - as large as 4 or 5 feet wide maybe? Apparently some can become a nuisance by self-seeding, but I think most of the newer varieties are sterile. I can't speak from experience as to hardiness since I don't have one yet (next year probably), but I'm sure others will chime in. I have heard they are pretty tough and adaptable though, and bloom all summer. The only negative in my mind is they don't leaf out until pretty late, maybe June? So that may have an effect on where you decide to put one.

It would be nice to have something vertical there that has visual interest for more than a month or two. I am tempted to order another Physocarpus opulifolius 'Coppertina'. I have two already in other areas, and they are still pretty small, but even though they can reach 10' tall, they can be pruned to the desired size.

Hmmmmm......

Bonnie (picture wheels turning slowly in my head, LOL)

Here is a link that might be useful: Physocarpus opulifolius 'Coppertina'

Bonnie,

I have "Fireball" -- It's very red and the blooms are dinnerplate size. It is in it's 2nd year and it got quite tall - at least 6 feet and stayed comparatively narrow. I plan to cut it back next year to make it more bushy and less tall, hopefully. But if you like 'em tall and red, you should like this one.

Nedra