Impossible Gardening: Hot, Dry, Clay Soil - Part 4 - Page 2
© Diana Pederson
Some catalogs classify these as coneflowers which may easily be confused with Echinacea. Rudbeckias are very easy to grow plants, best propagated by dividing the clumps in the spring. All species that I have grown have suffered some from mildew and shown leaf damage from leaf miners. Goldsturm has shown the least damage. I can't imagine a perennial border without one or more varieties of these brightly colored plants!
Hibiscus Species
This is a mixed up plant genus often referred to as Rose mallows. Often the plants are just sold as Hibiscus with a cultivar name. I have to laugh when I read in the perennial books that they are native to wetlands and need moist, rich soils. I grow my plants in a dry, clay soil and still have the same plants after 8 years. Mine were some unnamed variety that faithfully produce flowers about 6" across in a clear white with pinkish throat every August and bloom until frost.
The majority of our "hibiscus" cultivars are from the Hibiscus moscheutos species. Among these well known cultivars are: Lord Baltimore (5 feet tall with bright red flowers); Southern Belle (4 feet tall, may be white, pink, or red flowers), and Disco Belle (1 1/2-2 foot tall in mixed white, pink or red). I've seen these used as lovely temporary hedges in the summer.
My hibiscus were grown from bare roots started 8 years ago. They now form large clumps with many canes. I cut them down to the ground early each spring and by August, they will have sprouted new canes up to 6 feet tall. I find this an exceptionally easy to grow plant. I have had mildew during exceptionally wet summers and some kind of insect that tried eating the flower buds (European earwigs?). Actually this is pretty amazing, considering that I give it all the wrong growing conditions! I strongly recommend that you buy some of these plants and plan on having them for your lifetime. Mine have taken poor soils, seldom fertilized and suffer from car exhaust and winter salt with no apparent damage. I simply can't argue with a plant this tolerant!
A word of caution is needed here: there are tropical hibiscus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis frequently sold in greenhouses, with wonderful flowers. However, these are not hardy to North America!
Tips for the Enabling Garden
Make a practice of buying the tough plants that need little or no care to flourish in your garden. No plant is maintenance free, but the perennials discussed in this series flourish under trying circumstances to say the least.
