Disco Belle Pink
Rose Mallow
"I am lost in dreams, untrammelled dreams,
Of the land of hibiscus glowing in the morning sun."
-Mao Tse Dong
(1893-1976)
(1893-1976)
Hibiscus moscheutos 'Disco Belle' Pink is regarded as part of the 'Southern Belle' Group, though 'Disco Belle' is a semi-dwarf strain of the same hardy hibiscus or rose mallow or swamp mallow, the species being native to wetlands & stream sides of eastern North America.
'Disco Belle' Pink is pale pink with a dark pink to nearly red eye. It grows two feet or two & a half feet tall, with thick flower stalks that do not need staking. It will slowly spread to a foot wide clump or larger.
Besides the light Pink, the Disco Belle series also comes in rose or Dark Pink, in White, & in dark Red to magenta. Flowers tend to last only two days each, but are produced continuously for a long time in summer & autumn.
It blooms from July to September or first frost. It dies back in winter. When it first begins to die back, its thick stems can be trimmed to within four or eight inches of the ground. In very cold zones it will be a defacto annual. On Puget Sound it perennializes very easily, returning late in spring so that its location should be well-marked so that it isn't accidentally dug up before the sprouts reappear in May.
It wants full sun but strongly dislikes droughtiness; the large leaves will look bad in summer if the soil is not kept moist. Well-draining is likely best, but it will also thrive in a somewhat boggy location where the majority of plants including other species of hibiscus would rot away.
Within its variable color range, 'Disco Belle' will grow true from its own seeds & not revert to taller forms with smaller blossoms.