Hibiscus moscheutos Pink Candy - Swamp Rose Mallow

Hibiscus moscheutos 'Pink Candy' is a variety of rose mallow with large flowers of about 20 cm (7.9 in) in pale pink-white with a dark red to bright red heart, enhanced by a deep purple cut foliage. This tall perennial disappears every winter and regrows from the stump in spring to form a compact bush in just a few months. All summer long, its magnificent flowers in huge light pink cups, washed with candy pink in some places and with slightly frilled petals constantly renew themselves as long as the soil remains consistently moist. Its leaves are divided into narrow and pointed leaflets with widely toothed margins that take on a purple, almost black, hue, highlighting the red-purple veins and stems, making this ornamental plant attractive even when not in bloom! It is a species that thrives in warm and sunny locations with rich, well-drained and moist to wet soil. Use it to create temporary hedges with other marsh mallows, as a backdrop for a highly colourful flower bed by a pond, or plant them in multiple pots to dot the edges of a terrace.

Hibiscus moscheutos, also known as Hibiscus palustris, is a herbaceous plant with a woody stump belonging to the Malvaceae family, related to hollyhocks and mallows. It is native to marshes in the southern United States, where it can reach up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in height. Horticulturists have taken this astonishing botanical species and produced numerous very interesting cultivars, featuring larger flowers, various colours, and increased floribundity.

The 'Pink Candy' variety is a creation of Pépinière Fleurs du Sud and belongs to the Carousel range, which brings together hardy and floriferous rose mallow varieties with dark purple foliage that particularly enhances their huge single flowers. It forms a beautiful bushy clump that will quickly reach 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) in height and 1 m (3 ft 4 in) in width in one season. This cultivar stands out with its pale pink to light pink flowers, splashed with candy pink and enhanced by a bright red to dark red heart and a pistil covered in cream stamens. They open as wide, single flowers, 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter, with slightly crumpled petals. They are short-lived but constantly renew themselves from July to September. The stems and veins are red-purple, contrasting with its dark, nuanced foliage. The large leaves are divided into three narrow and pointed lobes with widely serrated margins, a dark purple colour, almost black with olive-green and bronze undertones, especially on the undersides, remaining highly ornamental throughout the growing season.

Rosse mallow plants are spectacular and never fail to leave an impression: some people dislike their huge flowers because they can be difficult to integrate into a natural setting, while others adore them for the same reasons that make them popular in contemporary gardens or in carefully arranged exotic scenes around a water feature or on a terrace. This superb plant may suffer in mountainous areas, although it is hardy enough to withstand temperatures as low as -15 °C (5 °F). All rose mallow varieties add another dimension to waterlogged flower beds or the edge of a pond, accompanied by Gunnera, cannas, arum lilies, Rodgersia Chocolate Wings, or Colocasia esculenta.