Hibiscus × 'ROYAL GEMS' swamp mallow
Hibiscus
Swamp mallow and its hybrids have been sought after plants for the past few years now. They are perennials with sturdy stems that have large, tropically looking flowers. Royal Gems is a variety bred by David and James Fleming from Nebraska, USA, which resulted from a 40-year controlled breeding. Other successful varieties from the same breeding programme include Kopper King, Fireball, Plum Crazy, Robert Fleming, and Fantasia. They are all crosses of hibiscus moscheutos and hibiscus coccineus, and boast with incredible flower size and colours, as well as excellent hardiness.
Royal Gems (not to be mislead by Crown Jewels) is a stunning Swamp mallow variety with extremely large, rich purple pink flowers. Their size is at least 25 cm, but more often 27-28 cm across! Flowering begins early in the season, usually in early August. Deciduous leaves are irregularly heart-shaped, sometimes with two small horns at sides, burgundy red to reddish brown on the insolated parts, and lowers leaves lack red pigment and remain rather green. In autumn they turn yellow and amber orange. Stems are strong and do not bend in rain, a little over one meter tall, and the plants produce multiples of them year after year forming a bushy and dense shrub.
The plant is dependent on regular water and feed supply. Use fertilizers with enough phosphorus for abundant flowering, or any other quick-release fertilizers where nitrogen is not predominant. Any fertilizing has to stop by end September.
For healthy growth and profuse flowering it needs a sunny location with a lot of moisture which can be achieved by good mulching. The soil has to be fertile and permeable, never let it dry out in summer. Hardy to min. 34°C (USDA zone 4). Cut back the plant only a few centimetres above ground level in spring.
Last update 06-08-2017
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- STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
- DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
- EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
- STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
- HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
- SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
- HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
- FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
- GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.
