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How to Grow Hibiscus

A dinner plate sized Lady Baltimore Pink Hibiscus in the garden.

A Lady Baltimore Pink Hibiscus.

Photo Credit
Bryan Pollard/Shutterstock
Botanical Name
Hibiscus syriacus, H. moscheutos, H. coccineus
Plant Type
Shrubs and Bushes
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Part Sun
Soil pH
Slightly Acidic to Neutral
Bloom Time
Summer
Fall
Flower Color
Blue
Multicolor
Pink
Purple
Red
White
Hardiness Zone
5
6
7
8
9

Planting, Growing, and Pruning Hibiscus

Catherine Boeckmann
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With huge, colorful dinner-plate size flowers, perennial hibiscus plants add a bold, tropical effect to the garden. They are also highly attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds! Here’s how to plant, grow, and care for hibiscus flowers.

About Hibiscus

There are many types of hibiscus. This growing guide covers perennial hibiscus grown for their strikingly beautiful, big, disc-shaped, hollyhock-like flowers that can measure up to 12 inches across!

Perennial hibiscus can grow up to eight feet tall, but dwarf varieties are only two to three feet tall. 

Hibiscus are members of the mallow family, which has over 300 members of annuals, perennials, trees, and shrubs.

Read Next

Planting

When to Plant Hibiscus

Hibiscus can be purchased as young plants from nurseries and are best planted in the spring. Or, they can be rooted from a cutting in the spring.

If you wish to grow hibiscus from seed, sow indoors 12 weeks before the last spring frost date. Soak seeds in very warm water for one hour before sowing. Alternatively, seeds can be sown outdoors after the last expected frost date.

Choosing and Preparing a Planting Site

  • Choose a site that gets full sun; they’ll grow in partial sun but will not flower as well.
  • Hibiscus prefers well-draining soil with plenty of organic matter and neutral to slightly acidic soil.
  • To avoid breakage of the long stems, plant hibiscus where they won’t be exposed to strong winds.

How to Plant Hibiscus

  • Plant potted hibiscus plants so that their stems are just at the soil surface.
  • To root a cutting in the spring, cut off a branch 5 to 6 inches long and strip off lower leaves. Plant the cutting in a pot with a mix of three parts sand and one part peat. Roots should form within a few weeks. Transplant the cutting from the pot into the ground.
  • The hibiscus species that die back each year can be spaced 2 to 3 feet apart. Consider the potential height and width (up to 12 feet and 10 feet, respectively) of a mature plant before planting.
  • Water the plants well at the time of planting.

Growing

How to Care for Hibiscus Shrubs

  • Hibiscus needs frequent watering, especially when young and new. When watering, do so deeply and thoroughly, drenching the plant.
  • Mulch around the plant to retain moisture and to provide winter protection for the roots.
  • To encourage rebloom, either remove the spent flowers before they form seed heads or prune plants back by one-third after a flush of bloom is finished.
  • Perennial hibiscus will freeze back to the ground each winter; cut old stems to the ground.
  • Hibiscus blooms on new wood (this year’s growth), so pruning is best done in the spring.
  • In early spring, remove dead stems from established plants and apply a balanced fertilizer.
  • Over the growing season, hibiscus can benefit from a fertilizer that is high in potassium, medium to medium-high in nitrogen, and low in phosphorus, as the plant can be sensitive to phosphorus.
  • Mature plants can be divided in the spring, not fall.
Varieties

Scarlet Swamp Hibiscus (H. coccineus): This plant, also known as Texas Star, has 5-petaled, brilliant-red flowers. It grows to a height of seven feet each growing season, dies back to the ground every winter, and resprouts in spring.

Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos): This is the classic dinner-plate hibiscus due to the large size of its flowers. These large, fast-growing plants bloom from August to October, and each plant may flaunt several 10 to 12-inch wide flowers at once. A few of the many popular cultivars are:

  • ‘Anne Arundel’ has pink flowers, nine inches in diameter, on plants five feet tall.
  • ‘Kopper King’ has light pink to white flowers with a burgundy center, 12 inches in diameter, with coppery red deeply cut leaves.
  • ‘Lady Baltimore’ is a popular old variety with pink flowers and red centers on five-foot-tall plants.
  • ‘Lord Baltimore’ is another old variety with red flowers on five-foot-tall plants.

 

Gardening Products

Pests/Diseases

Insect pests of hibiscus include aphids, whiteflies, and Japanese beetles. 

Clean up all plant debris to avoid fungal diseases which can cause leaf spots. Don’t crowd plants, and keep mulch from touching the stems to avoid blight. 

Wit and Wisdom

  • The plant has been used to soothe headaches, aching limbs, coughs, and inflammations. 
  • Hibiscus tea is made from parts of a different type of hibiscus, Hibiscus sabdariffa—also known as Roselle or Florida Cranberry. It’s native to West Africa but is now grown across Central America, the Caribbean, and even Florida.
  • In Victorian times, giving a hibiscus blossom to a person meant that the giver acknowledged the receiver’s delicate beauty. Learn more about the language of flowers.
  • The yellow hibiscus is the state flower of Hawaii.
Shrubs and Trees
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

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Comments

Joyce Hampton Simms (not verified)

4 years 6 months ago

I have a lot of hibiscus and they seed themselves. I have never cut them back, what is the purpose? You can cut them to a globe shape if you want another look. I did that this year and they are beautiful. Also you can tie them together if planted close and you will have a bigger globe. I love this plant its so hardy.

Marsha Miller (not verified)

4 years 6 months ago

My hibiscus plants were beautiful up until August Now they form the little pods that look they are going to make blooms but the turn a very pale yellow and fall off before turning into a flower. Also I have one plant that all the leaves are turning yellow Thank you for your help

Sue (not verified)

4 years 6 months ago

For the last three years I’ve had a problem with the stems of the hibiscus leaf Being eaten and the leaf falling off The plant is stripped completely it does recover but the same thing happens again I have used all the different sprays and checked the leaves and the plants and can find nothing on them any suggestions ? It goes from one Hibiscus another. I have lost six hibiscus in one season hope you can help I love hibiscus.

This is your problem: hibiscus sawflies, or Atomacera decepta.

You might see these insects on the leaves; that’s a sign that you’re being attacked. Females lay eggs on the leaves, the hatch and start eating on the underside, usually in July. The University of Maryland suggests this: Handpick larvae or prune out affected tissue and destroy. If the population is too big, or the plant is too tall to hand-pick, treat with Conserve, an insect control produce.

Jeff Fowler (not verified)

4 years 7 months ago

I live in North Carolina (zone7) and have the exact hibiscus as pictured. It’s been in the same spot for 30 years and does great. I cut it to the ground every year and it comes back perfectly.

Ron T (not verified)

5 years 6 months ago

I'm surprised not to see the Hibiscus Sawfly listed as a pest in this article. This pest is a major problem in my area, and if not treated can wreak much more havoc than the pests listed.

Mike (not verified)

5 years 6 months ago

Perennial hibiscus bloom late in the season here in the northern latitudes, August through now, early September. Mine will be done in about a week. I always clip off the dried husks that held the flower, never saw a rebloom, not enough time in the season. Still, it's a stunning and beautiful addition to any garden if you have the room. Mine is the centerpiece. A late starter in the spring, but fills in fast by June. It's about 4' X 4' so be certain you can adjust for the full grown size, reached in about 3 years. I cut it to about 4 inches in November. I like the sticks and few dried leaves for Halloween! End of March, I cut the remaining 4 inches to the ground. Usually the sticks just break off easily. It's 9 years old now. Full sun is best. If it seems extra slow to get growing in the spring, give it a good drink for a few days in a row and it will take off.

Donna J Wurst (not verified)

5 years 6 months ago

We have a large beautiful --until recently--red hibiscus. It is about 4 years old. 2 weeks ago all the leaves turned yellow and the next day all fell off. We now have a stick bush. WHAT happened. We are in AZ and have had a veery HOT summer. What should we do.

Stephanie (not verified)

5 years 6 months ago

Unfortunately, neither of the photos in the article are Hardy Hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos etc.), they are the tropical types. Hardy Hibiscus have very different leaves (shape, texture etc.) e.g., maple-like, thinner, not glossy and flower shape.

You are correct! We’ve replaced the image with a photo of H. moscheutos. Thanks!