Hibiscus mutabilis seed
LATIN NAME: Hibiscus mutabilis
COMMON NAME: Cotton Rose
Cotton rose is the large, generous, autumn-flowering shrub of the warm gardens, and its big, double, rose-like flowers change colour from the white to the pink and the deep red as they age, all on the one shrub. The vigorous, upright shrub carries the large, soft, lobed leaves and the mass of the showy flowers through the late summer and the autumn, and a shrub in full flower is a fine, bold sight. The flowers open white in the morning and deepen to the pink and the red through the day. It is a generous, easy shrub of the warm, sunny garden.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
Cotton rose has a steady place in the plant science, and it has been studied for the remarkable way the flowers change colour as they age. The colour change from the white through the pink to the deep red, which is one of the fine curiosities of the plant world, has been studied closely, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the flower pigments and the colour changes. The large, soft, lobed leaves and the vigorous growth have also made it a favourite of the warm-climate gardens, and the shrub is a regular subject of the horticultural journals of the warm world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Cotton rose is grown for the great, showy flowers and the way they change colour through the day, from the white in the morning to the pink and the deep red by the evening. The generous, autumn-flowering shrub is a fine, bold addition to the warm garden, giving its show when many of the other shrubs are done, and the flowers pull in the bees and the butterflies of the season. The leaves and the flowers have their traditional uses in the east. It has been written about in the horticultural papers for its colour-changing flowers, and it is a generous, easy shrub of the warm, sunny spot.
Cotton rose has been a familiar of the warm gardens of the east for a very long time, and the big, double, rose-like flowers are famous for the way they change colour as they age, opening white in the morning and deepening to the pink and the red through the day. A shrub in full flower carries all the shades at once, which is one of the fine curiosities of the plant world. The generous, autumn-flowering shrub gives its show when many of the other shrubs are done, and the flowers pull in the bees and the butterflies of the season. The leaves and the flowers have their traditional uses in the east as well.
To grow the cotton rose from seed, put the small, dark seeds in a cup of warm water for a few hours, then sow them at a shallow depth in pots of moist, free-draining soil, keep them in a bright, warm, sheltered spot and water gently. The seedlings are up within a few weeks and grow on fast, so pot them on early. With the sun, the warmth and the well-drained soil, the big, colour-changing flowers will be there within a couple of seasons.
Hibiscus mutabilis is a perennial or shrub hibiscus better known as the Confederate rose. It tends to be shrubby or treelike in Zones 9 and 10, though it behaves more like a perennial further north. Flowers are double and are 4 to 6 inches in diameter; they open white or pink, and change to deep red by evening.