PlantFiles: Confederate Rose, Cotton Rose
Hibiscus mutabilis

The rose was planted in July of this year. From a 3 ft. plant stem. As of now it has produced good green leaves and has the most beautiful bloom of white. It has 3 more buds on the same stem. I don't know what to do when it quits blooming. Can anyone help me? I don't want to lose this beautiful plant.

White flies, white flies and more white flies. I have spoken to several people in my county that grow confederate rose and they too have to deal with the white flies. There is no point in trying to fight it. Keep the fight confined to keeping the white flies off the other kinds of hibiscus you happen to grow. That being said, I love the confederate rose. It will cheerfully bloom regardless of the white fly infestation.

As an organic gardener in James Island, SC, I LOVE this plant. I transplanted a 30 year old shrub 4 years ago so I could build a house, cutting it back to the ground after transplanting. It is now a 20-24 feet tall tree that thrives in sandy, rather poor soil at the corner of my property. If I had known it would get this big, I would not have planted other things so close. I propagate this plant from cuttings spring-fall, placed in water until rooted and then into a good potting soil. Kids love this plant for its giant pink double flowers. Mine are about 6 inches wide - (flowers not kids.) The only downside to this plant is that you will need to remove the large, dead leaves and flowers as they drop.

This plant is truly a hardy one here in Zone 9. I moved into a house that had one neglected on the side and it is probably close to 10 FT tall!. It looks as if it hasn't been pruned in a long time. Flowers are beautiful! Change color from light to dark pink throughout the day.

Lovely autumn blooms here in Brenham TX (Zone 8B). Every winter I prune to knee height, and every summer it grows to about 15-20'. It only gets watered when it rains or when I water the lawn, and no fertilizer. My neighbors remove the lower branches so that it looks like a tree. Mine bears clear pink double flowers that turn nearly magenta with age. I'm uploading some images that a professional photograper took, not at my direction but just because she was enchanted. Several times a year, someone knocks at my door and asks for a cutting because it reminds them of their grandmother's plant. I thought it was a nuisance at first, but since I can't kill it, I've decided to love it.

I am in zone 5b and I'm aware that this is NOT HARDY in my zone but I don't let something like that stop me from growing it :)

I gave this a neutral rating at the moment as I just got the unrooted cuttings the Fall of 2006. During the winter I rooted the cuttings in water w/H202, potted it in a large black nursery container and moved it outside last summer (2007) to encourage growth. I overwintered in my basement plantroom and have just recently moved the container outside, to my "hobby" GH to acclimate it for the summer. Hopefully I will get flowers this year which I am impatiently anticipating!! I love RoS and anything related to the hibiscus family---be it hardy and/or tropical!!

My plant is 20 feet tall, has 4-5 in. double pink blooms from Sept thru November.Mine gets afternoon sun only and is growing alongside yellow brugmansias. It roots easily from cuttings and the seed grow well too. I give it no care whatsoever. Here on the coast, we need shade from the hot Texas sun but trees are risky because the hurricanes will dump them on your roof. This 20 foot tall shrub with leaves the size of dinner plates makes very good shade but does not get tall enough to fall on the house.

Zone 8b, deep East, Broaddus, TX
Folks, an aquaintence today, 3-26-2008, gave me 3 soft-wood cuttings as well as 1 hardwood cutting.
I will try to root one softwood cutting inside in a jar of water.
Others, I will plant in potting soil by Miracle-Grow Moisture Control. I planted one inground last Fall 07 which did not root.

This Confederate Rose bears both white and red flowers on the same bush.
I will post my success/failure in the months ahead.
Keep those hands dirty!

I moved from a home in a tight subdivision to a home on an acre and half in Louisiana eight months ago and am still finding lots of native treasures here. One was the Confederate Rose in the front of the house. Did not know exactly how it would bloom and happily discovered its beauty in the fall. Amazing! But it is a huge plant. At least 20 feet tall with multiple "trunks". I need to cut it back but not sure how much I can cut.

I LOVE this tree! It's grown very quickly, about 15' tall, and wide in 3 years! Has a huge trunk, and is currently blooming. The flowers are very beautiful. It's very easy to care for...just make sure you give it plenty of room!
Cuttings seem to root well in water.

Full sun, regular water.

My first canes for the Confederate Rose were only 6 to 8 inches long! My father gave them to me from cutting back his own after the first frost , here in Georgia.
I placed them in water in a bucket then placed them in a room protected from freezing! When Spring came I planted them Directly to the garden! Three years later and I have some shrubs that are 14 feet tall, and covered with huge 4 to 6 inch blooms!

I grew the 'Rubrus' variety. Lots of magenta flowers all summer until frost. The plant was planted on the east side of my house and shaded for at least half the day. The only pruning I did was to keep it below the roof line and out of the walkway. It does make a huge plant, but the flowers are wonderful. I didn't notice any insect problems.

I have this plant in my yard - the white flies flock to it. I have have very few blossoms this year. Wonder if it's because I cut it way back last winter??? It's green - filled with bugs, and no flowers :(

I purchased a Confederate Rose plant in Orange Park, FL and planted in a mostly sunny (7 - 8 hours daily) location at my home in Virginia Beach. The first year, the plant grew to about 6 feet but did not produce flowers. The second year, it grew to about 7 feet and had a handful of blooms in early November. In the third year (2005), the plant reached nearly 8 feet in height and was covered with flowers from early October until late November. Each year after the leaves turn in late November, I cut the plant back to about 6 inches and mulch heavily with pine straw for the winter. New growth emerges from the ground in early April. Last winter I sucessfully rooted several cuttings (pencil thick and about 10 to 12 inches long) in moist sand in a bucket in the garage. I have planted several of the new plants in different areas on the yard and all seem to be thriving at this point in mid-August. Most are about 4 - 5 feet tall and appear healthy. My original plant is already 8 feet in height and I expect a large number of blooms in about 2 months.

I bought two of the white/pink/rose Confederate Rose plants about 4 years ago. I had seen the shrubs in bloom and had to have some. Since then, I have started several from seeds, and have noted that when small the plants didn't survive outside. I have had luck with my seedlings coming back after they were overwintered the first year, then transplanted to a permanent site the second spring. Also, the young plants seemed to have a problem with white fly, but I haven't noticed any white fly on the more mature shrubs. I should note that at the time of the white fly problem, I did have some other plants that were highly attractive to the pest. My daughter-in-law in Ft. Lauderdale reported that the seedling I gave her two years ago self-seeds readily, but again, I haven't had this happen in my yard (i have heavy clay soil that restrains everything except poison ivy). To start from seed, simply place seeds on top of potting soil in a container with a saucer. Place in full sun, keep very moist, and stand back. Seedlings will bloom in two years (here) if kept in pots until they are about 4' tall and protected in winter from freezing.

Just discovered this site and love it!

Leilani0927

This plant was sent to me as a rooted cutting and in four years, it has bloomed and thrived. The only problem i have with it is that as soon as it gets buds, frost hits them and they fall off. It is in an unprotected area and if I figure out how to root a couple of stems, I will plant it in other areas.

I purchased and planted this in late July at about 1 foot high, planted in full sun and in just under 3 months it was over 5 ft tall and bloomed many times during late Oct. I didn't realize how big it would get or I would have put it somewhere else, but I do love it for it's changing bloom color, starts off white, then changes to light pinkish purple and finishes solidly deep pink. The blooms are large also and really stand out. It required heavy watering (every other day during summer) to avoid becoming wilted, and had moderate problems with insects, mostly caterpillars I think. I've mulched heavily and hope it's winter hardy here, I'd hate to lose this one.

We love our Confederate Roses. We have several, all blooming still in late November. They easily reach 20 feet high and wide. Rita broke some branches, but they are healed and the gaps have filled. Bugs don't seem to bother it here. We just have one young white one that came up from seed. A truly great plant. The blooming slowed in July and August, but started again big time soon after.

I have had great success with this plant in San Antonio, Tx. I planted it at 2' and now stands about 15'. It does not die down for the winter. It blooms sporadically during summer and consistently from October / November till frost. This plant has grown in to a small tree with a thick trunk. Beautiful flowers - bloom white to a dark pink wilting in one day.

I love this plant. When it was about 4-5 feet tall the leaves were attacked by some insect. I never was able to see it. I sprayed with Acephate-75 mixed in water and that took care of it. Now it is over 8 feet tall and blooming like a champion. I live on the coast of Texas in zone 9.

Insects do chomp it up, but I just let' em! It still grows bigger and blooms more each year. Gets raves from many folks who have never seen it, & most want one for themselves or others. I have the white which changes to pink, the double pink that changes to deep, dark rose red, the single deep wine red, and have a start of the single white which changes to pink. Got started with cuttings, mostly. They seem easier than seeds, which do take longer to mature and bloom. I'm in South La.

The Confederate Rose grows in my area. I believe I am in zone 7 or 8. I think it's 8. I am in Fayetteville, NC. Anyway, just today, 10-20-04, I stopped at a lady's house up the street from me, and she is going to give me a cutting from hers. I had one, but two years ago, it died. I believe what killed mine was weevils. Pest they are, but I was once told, if you spray your shrubs with a mix of 1 part mild dish liquid and 1 part water and spray your shrubs with them, it will keep most insects off them. I don't know if it would keep weevils off them or not, but I am sure there is something out there that can get rid of the weevils. I had a real problem with white flies on my gardenias, but never saw them on my Confederate Rose. One thing I did not ever see on my Confederate Rose were seeds.

I have seen these plants around in z7 gardens my whole life. I never had one of my own but I now tend my grandmother's which is just huge and my own which is now 1 yr old started from a cutting. Mine is now about 5.5 ft tall, my grandmother's is about 10 ft. I have even traded some plants this year and received a white single confederate rose rooted cutting to start next year. I am going to pot it up for the winter for I fear it will not have time enought to get a good hold before the frost will hit. They are one of the last things to bloom around here with the mums. Very cool plant.

I took a cutting last year and it grew to about 5 feet or a little more, I have not seen any evidence of it coming back up as of yet 4-24-05, but my white single has put up a few leaves.

I live in Citrus county, Florida, zone 9a. I have 1 bush in my front yard which is about 10 feet high and 6 feet wide. I planted it last fall and it froze back nearly to the ground over the winter. This spring the bush started growing extremely fast but ended up looking rather leggy. The winds during hurricanes Frances and Jeanne whipped the bush all over the place and I was sure that I would end up losing it. To my surprise, the bush only lost a couple of branches and started blooming again the day after hurricane Jeanne.

This is a beautiful plant and when ours is heathly it flowers for weeks on end and they are incredible. My problem with this plant is it's susceptibility to bugs, especially white fly in my area. It tolerates draught and full Florida sun but I can't keep the white fly away from it and then they get on our other Hibiscus and our Angel Trumpet.

Grows in Beaumont, Texas - based on limited sightings, it is a wonderful addition to any yard. Cuttings respond to water bucket starting without any encouragement. Ideal for a new or busy gardener.

I love the flowers on this plant. However I am having problems getting it to thrive and flower. I live in Key Largo, FL, and bugs seem to really love this plant, especially scale, and lately a very small grey weevil which keeps the leaves torn up...not to mention aphids! This is the second year I have had it in the ground and so far no real healthy growth.

I'm tempted to give this plant a negative rating, simply because it is soooooo very invasive. One small cutting (they told me it would grow to be about 4' high, and I believed it) has led to a yardful of gigantic trees and shrubs! I don't know about other zones, but deep south gardeners, be aware that this rascal can easily reach 20' tall in one season, and grow at least that wide.
It has aspirations of world domination.
In bloom, however, it is astonishingly beautiful.

A friend from Louisiana brought me a cutting of this confederate rose, and I planted it. It bloomed for me in the late summer, white turning to pink by end of day. I only had one bloom but I am hoping for more this summer. It has started to peek out of the ground. After the first frost I mulched very heavily. Thinking it might not come back, I took several cuttings to root in a jar over the winter before frost. I am excited that it will survive our winters. Now I need to pass on the cuttings that I rooted to friends.
Marlar....Paris, Arkansas

When I got it three years ago, it looked like a small, dead, sawed-off tree in a pot. It sat inside, almost forgotten, for months, but then I planted it next to my front porch (almost didn't allow enough room). Who knew it would grow so big.... WONDERFUL plant!

After the cold "kills it" cut it back HARD (use a saw) Next Spring, stand back! I live within 5 miles of the geographical center of Georgia. Many folks around here have several Confederate Roses in their front yards. White bloom this morning, tinged with pink this afternoon, hot pink tomorrow, WOW! sorry if this wasn't "concise" enough.....

This is an important back-of-the-border plant in my zone 8 garden. It usually has a little insect damage a the bottom, so I hide it behind zebra grass and loropetalum. By the time it blooms it stands 8 to 10 feet tall and its a beautiful sight. I have great success with growing it from cuttings, which is a lot faster than seeds.

Attempted to grow this Confederate Rose in my z5, southern NH garden based upon info posted on this site that it is hardy here - no such luck at all, it did not survive the winter despite heavy mulching and protection. NOT hardy in z5.

Confederate Rose has proven to be winter hardy here in my USDA Zone 7 garden. For me, it blooms from mid summer through late fall. It is killed back to the ground with the first hard freeze, only to re-grow the following spring, sending up even more stems than the previous season. It is a wonderful addition to my garden!

I have enjoyed having this shrub in my garden for the past several years. It grows to about 5 feet and the flowers change color during the day and last for only one day. I live in Dubai, United ARAB Emirates zone 11

Has large (6-10"), maple-shaped leaves with velvety texture, medium to light green.

The single pink Hibiscus mutabilis is an indeterminant bloomer, producing flowers all summer and into the fall. Most double H. mutabilis (we have some new hybrids that are actually quintuple tricolors) bloom from mid-September to frost here in Zones 8/9, and on through early spring unless frosted.