What Is a Good Hibiscus for Michigan?

Hardy Hibiscus

• Hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos) is an herbaceous perennial that, depending on the cultivar, can grow to between 2 and 5 feet in height. The plants are notable for their huge, brilliantly colored flowers; the flowers of some cultivars may be as much as a foot in diameter. Popular cultivars include "Disco Belle Pink," "Kopper King" and "Lady Baltimore." Hardy hibiscus is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 4 through 9, so it's able to survive the winter throughout Michigan, even in the Upper Peninsula.

Smooth Rose Mallow

• Smooth rose mallow (Hibiscus laevis) is also a herbaceous perennial, although it is often somewhat larger than hardy hibiscus, reaching between 4 and 6 feet in height. Its flowers are smaller than those of most hardy hibiscus cultivars, usually reaching about 6 inches in diameter with light colored petals and deep maroon eyes. Smooth rose mallow, like hardy hibiscus, is hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9, so it can be grown throughout Michigan.

Scarlet Swamp Hibiscus

• Scarlet swamp hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus), also sometimes called scarlet rose mallow, is another herbaceous hibiscus species. Similar in size to smooth rose mallow, it grows between 3 and 6 feet in height and produces deep red flowers 3 to 5 inches in diameter. Unlike the less tender smooth rose mallow and hardy hibiscus, scarlet swamp hibiscus is reliably hardy only in USDA zones 6 through 9, so it should be confined to the milder climates of the shoreline areas in Lower Michigan.

Rose-of-Sharon

• Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) is a woody shrub that grows between 8 and 10 feet tall in an open, upright habit. Its flowers are 2 to 4 inches in diameter, and they may be pink, red, blue, purple, lavender or white, depending on the cultivar. Rose-of-Sharon is hardy in USDA zones 5b through 9a, so it's best suited to southern Lower Michigan and the shoreline areas of the Lower Peninsula; it may not survive the winter in the interior of northern Lower Michigan, and it almost certainly can't handle the cold of the Upper Peninsula.