Hibiscus moscheutos Carousel® Ghost ® - Swamp Rose Mallow

The 'Hibiscus moscheutos Carousel® Ghost® is an innovative marsh hibiscus variety that offers large pure white flowers, enhanced by an elegant contrasting foliage, intricately cut and beautifully purple-coloured. The deciduous plant forms a dense, structured, compact, and neat clump, brightened in summer by a long-lasting flowering. It can be planted in large containers kept very moist throughout the warm season, or to adorn the edges of a pond.

The Hibiscus moscheutos Carousel® Ghost®, also known as Hibiscus palustris, is a herbaceous plant with a woody base from the mallow family, cousin to mallows and hollyhocks. Its ancestor is native to the marshes of the southern United States, where it can reach up to 2 meters in height. In our climates, the marsh mallow produces, quite late in spring each year, straight, upright stems forming a spreading bush. The aboveground vegetation dries up and disappears in winter, while the base goes dormant in the soil. Horticulturists have taken hold of this remarkable botanical species and have obtained many very interesting cultivars, showcasing larger flowers, various colours, and increased floriferousness.

The Carousel® Ghost® variety is a creation of Pépinière Fleurs du Sud and belongs to the Carousel® range, which gathers hardy and floriferous marsh hibiscus varieties with dark purple foliage that particularly highlights their immense single flowers. The plant forms a beautiful bushy clump that will quickly reach, in one season, 1.20 meters in height and width. This cultivar bears 18 to 25 cm diameter flowers, with a shiny texture, in bright pure white. They are ephemeral, but constantly renew from July to September. The stems and leaves are of a dark purple, especially when the plant is exposed to full sun. The large leaves are cut into narrow, pointed lobes with widely crenate margins. If the plant lacks sunlight, the foliage will be more olive green. It remains very ornamental throughout the entire growing season.

The Carousel® Ghost® marsh hibiscus is a fascinating plant that elicits mixed opinions: some may find its giant flowers challenging to incorporate into a natural garden, but it is precisely this uniqueness that makes it a perfect choice for a contemporary garden or an exotic setting around a small terrace pond. This beautiful hibiscus, although hardy down to -15°C when its base remains dry, may suffer in regions north of the Loire or in mountainous areas. Like all marsh hibiscus plants, it adds a touch of elegance to wet borders and pond edges, blending beautifully with cannas, arums from Ethiopia, and papyrus. The Ghost variety, with its white flowers contrasting against purple foliage, also makes a superb plant for a sunny terrace.