Confederate rose, Cotton rose, H mutabilis anyone grow it?

mine turn from white to dark pink. they are in big pots and stay out all year long. i've had them 4 years now. my big one i call general lee. the other mrs. lee

I received a Confederate rose cutting in a trade. I was told it wouldn't survive my zone, so I have it in a pot. It does have buds on it, I can't wait to see what I have when it blooms.

It isn't a real bushy plant is it.?

Down here they grow about 10 to 12 ft tall and they bush out to be just about that wide.

I trained mine into a standard. Pictures of it are several posts up. I planted it as a cane last fall. I cut off the few lower stems so that it would grow into a little tree.

Cordeledawg ~ very pretty as a standard. How much sun does yours get. Mine grows so tall 7 to 8 feet now ~ I almost wonder if it needs more sun. Am also wondering how much water and fertilizer you give it?

I'm wonder if my leaves are larger on this one than the white to pink version... They appear far larger than those pictured.

mine are about the same size as yours, and mine is a white to pink

Okie Doke ~ just thought C'dawgs' photo looked like smaller leaves.

Any body look closely at the bloom. Mine have what looks like a tiny red bloom (similar to a single flower on Lantana) I guess this is what attracts the pollinators.

The "sweet spot" ... This bloom has two dark ones right below dead center...

that is simply the stigma of the hibiscus. mine are white/light yellow. this is the part of the pistil (female part of flower). the attractive part of the flower would be the the petals, shape, or scent

Yes, and it is cool...

2pug, they get very bushy with some age and no matter how many times you prune them back they get to about 10' x 10'.

Podster, I haven't fertized it, shame on me. It got deep watered at least once a week during the heat of the summer. It's on the west side of my house in direct sun.

I just love the blooms. They remind me so much of tissue flowers we use to make to put of homecoming floats in high school.

Since this is my first year having it actually grow and bloom, what do I do to it once a hard freeze hits it? Does it start all over growing from the ground up again, or will stems grow from the trunk in the spring? I'm clueless.

If you want to take cuttings. I would do so when done blooming and after a frost but before a killing frost. Mine freezes to the ground and puts on new growth both from the trunk and from the roots. Some of the older plants in the area do not die down completely and will leaf out next spring. I think mine is too large and old to move but will try cuttings myself and plant those where it will receive more sunshine. Yours is very pretty.

Thank you, Podster. I think I'd like more dotting my yard here and there too. Such a wonderful springy color during the fall.

Yes ~ bittersweet blooms of Fall. They are beautiful. We may have to scour the countryside for a red one ~ 8 ))

Mine will have to stay in a pot so I hope it does will .

How cold do you get? Or are you moving it in to a protected area? If you leave it out, you might want to bury the pot. That will insulate the roots from serious freezing.

I am in zone 6a. Moving it into the GH for protection.

Good going ~ it should be fine there. Please keep us posted on how it does.

(Yaaaaaaaaaawwwwn) Good Morning all! I have missed alot of the posts! Im working a rather early shift ( 4 am to 11am) then they changed me to closing shift ,Im soooooooooooosleepy!
Yep the confederate Rose is one of the most showy and beautiful Shrubs I have ever owned! I love the fact that it requires minimal care and will survive even the worst of droughts ( like most of us had this summer)!
Mine are definitely bigger and better every year . They were all one segle cane the first year and after that they came back multicaned and bushier! The tallest on I have right now is right at 10and 1/2 feet tall and approximately 5 feet wide!
Some My Dad had ( where my cuttings came from) Were trees! Some as tall as 20 feet! Every Fall his yard was a mass of pink blooms, too beautiful! The leaves during the summer made the bushes very handsome too!

Hi Eufaula ~ definitely beautiful foliage too!

Eufaula I can almost imagine what your dads yard looked like. I know I envey people in southern Texas with there crept myrtles and Hibiscus growing so big and blooming almost all year. But in my zone they can only bloom in the summer and if I am lucky in the GH during winter. It always surprises me to go into the GH in winter and see my Hibiscus without leaves blooming away.

Mine get sun only 2-3 hours a day and are at least 10 feet tall. they are blooming now.i cut mine back in the spring, and that seems to work good. they get bigger every year.

This one was started year before last in our front yard. I took a few cuttings last year and rooted them out in the greenhouse - this year I have 4 - two of them I'm not sure are doing very well, but, one of them has done great

This is the one I started last year in the greenhouse - it's doing pretty good, has had a few blooms this year - but has lots of buds left.

Lovely! Both pictures of your CR will put out mega blooms. Did you start six canes to plant together? Or did one grow five more stems? I'm wondering if I did a bad thing making mine into a standard.

We probably have over a hundred blooming right now. Some are over 20 feet tall. These are about 15 feet tall.

trois

Close up of flower.

I gave a young one to a neighbor who planted it on what turned out to be my property, LOL. She had trained it as a standard but as it gets big the branches spread out and droop anyway. Ours have not started blooming yet, it is still pretty warm here, but as soon as they do start I'll post photos.

Lovely "wall" of Confederate roses Trois ~ yours are the solid pink?

I wonder if anyone watching grows the red and is scared to post for fear we will all mug them for cuttings ~ lol.

Looking forward to your photos, Ardesia...

I'd be right along with you, Podster, mugging for the red ones!

I'd love to see your pictures, ardesia!

I have one plant that has both pink and white in the same stalk. The white is pure and never turns pink.
It has about 10 pinks for each white, sometimes side by side.

We started with one plant about 8 years ago and the rest are from seeds. Some are single pinks.

Most beautiful! The pure white is unusual ~ very unique!

White with faded pink on same stem.

I think the "red" one we hear about is really the dark rosy pink one that blooms all summer and does not change color.

Mine have several shades of pink, but I have never seen a really red one.

trois

I never realized how spectacular the confederate rose hibiscus are until this year. They seem to have thrived in the drought and 100 degree + heat. Trois' hedge row of confederate roses sounds like a terrific idea.

Cordeledawg - I planted 1 stick for each and they shot out to the side. I do wish I had made one into more of a "tree form" - but I really like their blooms either way.

I love the blooms too. I'm proud to own just one and now I want more.

The hedge is one tree plant. It is pretty big now.

trois