Magenta Chiffon® Hibiscus

If you think of the hardy hibiscus, Rose of Sharon, as the poor relative of the tropical hibiscus, it’s time to think again. The variety Magenta Chiffon®, and our other ‘Chiffon’ varieties, are so spectacular that it’s like your poor cousin just won big time in Vegas. Imagine a profusion of enormous – we are talking 4-inch diameter here guys – flowers so packed with petals they are like show-winning roses. Flowers that are full powder-puffs of swirling, rich purple-pink. Now imagine these appearing at the beginning of June, and being still in abundance when the first hard frost arrives. All this on a glorious full shrub that is hardy in zone 5, yet thrives in some of the hottest and driest parts of the country. Those tropical hibiscus will hang their sad heads in shame.

Yes, these plants represent a whole rebirth for a plant that has long been in our gardens, but is so often ignored or seen as a boring filler. Now it can take its true place among the best of your garden plants, and solve all your problems by keeping those blooms coming through the long hot days of summer. Growing from 8 to as much as 12 feet tall and 5 feet wide, this is the show-stopper flowering hedge like no other. A fabulous back-drop to your garden beds, or the perfect plant to transform an awkward corner. All this on a trouble-free, hardy plant that is so easy to grow it does all the work for you.

Growing the Magenta Chiffon® Hardy Hibiscus

Size and Appearance

The Magenta Chiffon® Hardy Hibiscus is a strong, vigorous deciduous shrub that grows quickly to become a broad, upright fountain of branches. Typically reaching about 8 feet, left to just grow you will find that 12 feet tall is certainly possible. This is a broad, multi-stemmed plant, 6 feet wide, and in time, unpruned, as much as 10 feet across. So when planting, don’t tuck this ‘cute little bush’ into a space suitable for a marigold – give it room to show you just how impressive it can become.

Leaves appear a little later than on many shrubs, so be a little patient. Soon enough it will be clothed in handsome, deep-green leaves a little over 4 inches long and 3 inches across. These have a smooth, glossy surface and are oval, but with three noticeable lobes and a charming jagged border. Leaves grow both on new growth and on short side-stems all along the branches, making for a bushy plant.

By the time June arrives you will be seeing the first buds, and even a new plant not even 3 feet tall is going to have 50 blooms in the season – imagine what a mature plant will do! From fat buds huge flowers expand, up to 4 inches across, in a wonderful, glowing, purple-pink. Each bloom is a swirl of petals, making a full, rounded, fully-double blossom that is the most striking we have ever seen. The rich tones shine out, turning heads and winning hearts. Plus, these are not the old ‘one day’ flowers – no, each one lasts a full 4 days, keeping this bush packed with blooms throughout summer. There will still be blooms in fall too, right up to the first hard frost. No other shrub comes close to this in continuous summer blooming. Although the genetics of this variety aren’t clear, it doesn’t seem to produce seed, which keeps it blooming longer and longer, while avoiding any need to dead-head.

Using the Magenta Chiffon® Hardy Hibiscus in Your Garden

You will be amazed at just how tough and useful the Magenta Chiffon® Hardy Hibiscus is. It takes heat and humidity in its stride, and thrives out on a lawn as a stunning specimen. Use it behind shorter shrubs, fill an awkward corner, or make a spectacular informal flowering hedge that must be seen to be believed. For hedges and screens space plants 3 feet apart for a wall of blooms. In warmer zones it can also be grown outdoors all year round as a potted tree, although it won’t grow as large as it will in the open ground.

Hardiness

Tough, hardy and reliable, this is a plant for everyone. Hardy from zone 5 to zone 9, including areas that are hot and dry or hot and humid all summer. Bred to grow well in cooler, damper regions too, it’s also highly-recommended for cool zones. We have even heard reports of it surviving in zone 4, dying back but re-sprouting and blooming profusely, but on a smaller bush of course. We can’t guarantee this plant in zone 4, though, but it could be worth the experiment.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

“Give me sun!” is what the Magenta Chiffon® Hardy Hibiscus would tell you if it could. Plant it right out in full sun for the best results, but it is tough enough to take a couple off hours of shade each day if it must, and still bloom well. It doesn’t ask for much – just a well-drained soil that can be anything, from sand to clay and acid to alkaline. Avoid wet areas, and if your soil tends to hold a lot of water, add plenty of coarse compost, and plant on a high spot. Established plants are incredibly drought tolerant, but a long, deep soak occasionally through extended dry periods will really make a difference in keeping those blooms coming.

Maintenance and Pruning

Deer don’t eat hardy hibiscus, and significant pests or diseases are very unlikely if the soil is well-drained and it is growing in the sun. For a vigorous variety like this we recommend you remove the tips of the new stems in spring once they are a few inches long – this will encourage dense, bushy growth. In spring trim lightly as needed, leaving about 12 inches of the wood that grew the previous year. For massive blooms in potted plants, leave just 2 or 3 inches of that growth from the previous year. Don’t trim in summer or blooming will be reduced.

History and Origin of the Magenta Chiffon® Hardy Hibiscus

The hardy hibiscus, Hibiscus syriacus, often called Rose of Sharon, is indeed a close relative of the tropical hibiscus, and is originally native to China and Korea. It arrived in the Middle East centuries ago along the fabled Silk Route. From there it came to Europe a few hundred years ago, which is why it is called ‘syriacus’.

Roderick Woods is today a breeder of magnificent hardy hibiscus, but his life was spent as a renowned researcher and professor at Cambridge University, where, between teaching how the human body works, he developed life-saving protective clothing for workers in many dangerous professions. A life-long lover of hibiscus, he discovered some rare old varieties in France, and used them to then breed new varieties that would bloom long and well even in the uncertain British climate. The Chiffon Series is the result, and the world hasn’t seen plants like this before. They glow with color, bloom continuously and look spectacular. In 2018 he was granted a US patent on the variety officially called ‘Rwoods5’, and the plant has been released by Spring Meadows Nursery of Grand Haven, Michigan, with the trademark name of Magenta Chiffon®.

Buying the Magenta Chiffon® Hardy Hibiscus at The Tree Center

This new range of double hardy hibiscus is really turning heads, and for our money the stunning brilliance of the Magenta Chiffon® Hardy Hibiscus makes it a top pick. Raise your summer flowering display to new levels, and turn the heat of summer into a bonus, not a problem. Settle back for a summer of beauty, but get that order in now, because these plants are so popular we just can’t keep them in stock for long at all.