The Confederate rose is a beautiful heirloom plant with a misleading nickname. In fact, Hibiscus mutabilis is neither a rose nor a native plant of the Old South. It hails from southern China, where it is called "tree lotus" and "fairyland flower."

Plant Delights Nursery

The many-petaled blooms of Hibiscus mutabilis 'Plena' change colors as they age.

This hibiscus apparently was first cultivated in Europe during the 1690s and then transported to Southern gardens in colonial America, where it took on a new identity. By the mid-19th century it had adapted so well in the South that it became a pass-along plant.

Little else is known about the American history of the Confederate rose. Even how it came by its common name remains uncertain. There is a legend, however, inspired by the Confederate rose's prominence in Southern cemeteries. After the Civil War, the legend goes, impoverished Southerners used this easily propagated heirloom found in their gardens as a substitute for other bushes they could not afford.

No records authenticate this regional lore. It's more likely that the familiar name of this hibiscus was prompted by the roselike shape of its flowers, which also accounts for its other Southern nickname "cotton rose." Some Confederate roses are "singles," while others are "doubles" (with two sets of floral chromosomes) – both types look like old garden roses. Starting in late summer, these 4- to 6-inch-wide flowers bloom profusely for weeks.

As this perennial's species name, mutabilis, indicates, its flowers tend to mutate in color. Not all Confederate roses bear flowers that dramatically change their hue, but those that do so open white or pale pink. Within one to three days they sequence from pink to rose until they turn purple-blue before closing. All stages of this color progression may appear at the same time during this bush's bloom cycle.

How this happens is chemically complex, but it can be summarized as the effect of petal-cell acidity derived from interacting proteins and sugars. Light, which powers photosynthetic sugar production, is crucial to this process.

The succession of floral colors is an important form of advertising for the Confederate rose. The acidic pink-to-rose floral phases, when the flowers are maximally ready for fertilization, are designed to attract pollinators such as bees. As acidity decreases, H. mutabilis flowers turn purplish-blue – a clear signal to pollinators to skip such sub-prime blooms, no longer rich in nectar and pollen.

Sometimes gardeners wish they were as savvy as pollinators in dealing with the usually trouble-free Confederate rose. One problem with this rapidly growing and substantial 8- to 12-foot shrub can be top-only flowers, which might inconveniently require a second-story window for viewing.

This can happen, Texas Cooperative Extension horticulturalist Skip Richter explains, when the Confederate rose is located in too much shade or is pruned inadequately or at the wrong time.

"If the plant was not killed to the ground during the past winter," he advises, "prune it at least by half at the end of winter."

The timing of pruning is important because the Confederate rose tends to produce clusters of buds only near the tips of its current-season stems. This means that cutting the plant back radically must be done no later than early spring.

If some trimming becomes necessary during spring, "an occasional light snip" is recommended by Beverly Hayes, director of horticulture at Texas Discovery Gardens. "This pinching will produce more branches closer to eye level."

Since pruning should be kept to a minimum during its bud-setting growth stage, the Confederate rose must be given ample space for its 6- to 10-foot spread. Like most hibiscuses, it will not tolerate crowding.

Roger Sanderson, wildlife biologist and curator at the Heard Natural Science Museum in McKinney, gives his single-petaled Confederate rose its own space in a pot at his home. "I used to be hesitant about recommending these prolific bloomers for planting outdoors" in North Texas, he explains, "but now due to global warming or whatever, it is not much of a worry anymore."

For either containers or small garden spaces there is 'Rubrus', a 4- to 6-foot cultivar with single pink-to-red flowers. North Haven Gardens in Dallas sometimes offers 4- to 6-foot H. paramutabilis , a natural genetic variant of H. mutabilis with tightly arranged pink double blooms.

Two selections available from Plant Delights in North Carolina reach about 10 feet. One is 'Plena', with color-changing double flowers. The other is 'Flora Plena', with rosy, camellialike double blooms. Plant Delights also sells an 8-foot, color-changing, single-flowered Confederate rose that plant-hunter Tony Avent propagated from an heirloom he found in 1999 at an abandoned homestead in Baton Rouge, La.

Plant Delights Nursery

Plant hunter Tony Avent propagated the elusive single H. mutabilis with a specimen he found at an abandoned homestead.

Confederate roses benefit from plenty of morning sunlight, prefer composted soil and insist on excellent drainage. Straw mulch is helpful during hard freezes, and watering is advised to prevent stress from prolonged droughts. H. mutabilis propagates easily from cuttings and seed, and in fact can be invasive in ideal settings.

Confederate roses are available sporadically at local plant nurseries, including Home Depot and North Haven Gardens. It was available last year at Calloway's by a lucky accident, according to Steve Moore, who works in the merchandising department.

"We haven't heard of any in production at this time," he reports, "but it may be a later crop we haven't heard about yet." Confederate roses sometimes turn up at local nonprofit plant sales, always the perfect place to encounter a serendipitous find.

Bill Scheick is a garden writer and professor of American literature and culture at the University of Texas at Austin.

Bill Scheick

'Rubrus is the color of our native winecup.

Plant Delights Nursery

Hibiscus mutabilis 'Flora Plena' is a ruffly as a cameillia.

Bill Scheick

The double-flowered Hibiscus mutabilis has twice the floral chromosomes.

Monrovia

Confederate roses will survive our winters if heavily mulched.

JENKS FARMER / Special to DMN

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