This showy plant is one I have come to really like, precisely because of it’s showy flowers. It’s binomial name has the following meaning-Hibiscus-Latin (coming from the Greek word hibiskos) marsh mallow, rosa-senensis-rose of China.

The basics of this plant are as follows:

• Leaves-ovate to broad lanceolate shaped with serrate margins, to 15 cm long, glossy and dark green
• Flowers-solitary, growing from leaf axils, with five petals, their natural colour is crimson with yellow-anthered red stamens but in cultivation, they can vary from crimson to orange to yellow and white. Flowers summer to autumn.
• Soil-humus-rich, moist and well-drained, neutral to slightly alkaline
• Range and distribution-its thought that this species comes from tropical Asia
• Plant care-needs full sun and long, hot summers to flower well, pests can include aphids, scale insects, mealy bugs white fly and powdery Mildred, treat as appropriate, needs a minimum temperature of thirteen degrees Celsius to thrive
• Size-2.5m to 5m tall by 1.5m to 3m wide
• Uses-grown for the large flowers, that come in many bright colours

All photos are my own