Hibiscus moscheutos 'Luna Pink Swirl'

 Hibiscus moscheutos 'Luna Pink Swirl'

This is one of the so called hardy Hibiscus and is a herbaceous perennial species, much hybridized, originating from the eastern United States. In warm coastal climates like mine it can only really be grown successfully as a summer bedding plant as it requires a certain amount of freezing over winter for the dormant buds to develop properly and reemerge in late spring. 

It is a compact grower to about a metre and as this species originated in boggy water logged soils it could be used as a decorative addition to a water feature during the summer if grown in a container or, as a border plant, it compliments a background planting of the grass Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus' with its finely striped green and white leaves.

Those who are familiar with this Hibiscus may be nostalgic for the dinner plate sized flowers of the 'Disco Belle' series which appeared in the late 1980's and early 90's. They were developed at the Sakata Seed Corporation's Chigasaki breeding station in Japan and were a real sensation.

Luna Pink Swirl has a 'fun fair' appeal to it and could even be renamed Luna Park Swirl in my book. It can be grown from cuttings or seed ,though seed may not come true to type.

2017 update: I no longer grow this Hibiscus