Today's Hibiscus of the Day is Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis).

This plant can be found in the ATP Plant Database at:
Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) .

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Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis)

I grew this in zone 7a and mine died even though it says it survives in my zone?

This is my first year with confederate rose so I cannot vouch for it being winter hardy but I see it growing in neighboring yards so I think it will be okay. I have a comment for Keith. Being very familiar with my home state of New York I think there is a big difference in a New York zone 7a and my South Carolina 7b (although some maps list me as 8a). This is why plants don't always overwinter just because a map lists a zone. The angle of sun is related to distance from the equator. My MIL likes to say that her Long Island garden is the same zone as mine but we grow different plants. We all like to push zones but sometimes Mother Nature wins.

I had a volunteer in my yard one year but it did not come back the next. There is someone around the corner from me that has a large plant that has been growing for years. I was able to get a couple to start from seed this year so maybe I can get them to survive.

I have these, but the drought has taken its toll on them. I don't see any buds yet. I use to have a huge one that towered over the garden gate. Now I only have a few that are struggling. I've never tried to grow them from seed, only cuttings. If they do bloom this year, I will save seeds for anyone who wants to try some.

I have one that is huge but this is the first time it hasn't been full of white flies
And last year was the first blooms in 8 years
I said last year, if you don't bloom, you are compost, lol
I love them so much, I didn't want to give up and I'm glad . It still wasn't blooming last I saw it

Confederate Rose has been a solid zone 8 hardy for me ... mine (I grew it from seed) usually started blooming a few weeks before the first killing frost, November here so I was lucky to get 3 or 4 blooms out of it. In mid summer of 2014 I started feeding the bajeebers out of it every couple of weeks and it started blooming in mid October so I was able to get more blooms out of it.

It also got dug up and moved 6 times and didn't seem to bother it at all.

I grew this from a start I bought online. I planted it too close to the house, though--it got huge. We started whacking it back every winter, and we have kept it under control that way. Needless to say, it thrives here. The blooms are beautiful--the plant absolutely has done really well. One spring some insect ate holes in the leaves--Neem oil helped curb that. I have started several cuttings for friends--this is the plant that keeps on giving!

Pictures are from early on to show color change from pink to magenta. in the later picture, you can see how big it has gotten.