Azalea and dogwood blossoms in April, roses in Might, our gardens faithfully bless us with moments to celebrate irrespective of the season. But what, you may perhaps be wondering, is really worth celebrating for the duration of the steamy canine days of summer.







Hardy hibiscus Darkish Secret has dark cabernet foliage that presents a beautiful backdrop for delicate pink flowers and a bold cherry pink eye.







Although hardy types of hibiscus may overwinter outdoors, the tropical varieties like this Hawaiian Sunset need to have to be introduced inside.
For me, it’s a pick team of herbaceous perennials, non-woody crops that die-to-the-floor in the wintertime and gloriously spring again to existence in late spring. That claimed, one particular perennial specifically grabs my awareness through mid-summer warmth: Hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos). Like Sleeping Elegance, this amazing, and underutilized, perennial will take its sweet time waking up in the spring. But by the time peak summertime warmth arrives, it’s generating magnificent supper-plate dimensions bouquets that visually personal the back garden.
Large tropical hibiscus flowers convert heads and are the speak of the community from mid-July as a result of early fall. Though their tissue-thin flowers live only a day or two, they are speedily and continuously replaced by newcomers. This morning, I was greeted by more than a fifty percent-dozen giant new flowers on a single plant. And I thoroughly count on this explosive “wow, glimpse at me” greeting to keep on for numerous a lot more weeks.
Regardless of their tropical search, hardy hibiscus is cold-hardy in the course of Oklahoma. They also are lengthy lived. The beauties in my perennial garden ended up planted eight several years ago, and they exhibit no signs of letting up. They also are among the least difficult of perennials to expand.