Use & Care NotesCompanion Plants
Glitter Bomb Hardy Hibiscus: Peppermint Swirls for Late Summer
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Glitter Bomb hardy hibiscus has a flower pattern you rarely see in a hardy hibiscus. The 7-inch blooms are pale pink-white, swirled and speckled with darker pink streaks like a peppermint candy, around a bold red eye. No two flowers are marked exactly alike, so it rewards a close look every morning.
The plant is big, too: a wide gumdrop of dark olive leaves 4 to 4½ feet tall and up to 6 feet across.
Glitter Bomb at a glance
| Trait | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Hibiscus 'Glitter Bomb' |
| Flowers | About 7 inches, pink-white with peppermint streaks and a red eye |
| Foliage | Dark olive green |
| Size | 4 to 4½ feet tall, 5½ to 6 feet wide |
| Bloom | Starts mid-July, peaks mid-August, long blooming |
| Hardiness | USDA zones 4 to 9 |
| Light | Full sun best; part shade tolerated |
| Best uses | Back of border, screening, rain gardens, pollinator gardens |
A backdrop, not a bedmate
Lavender wants lean, dry soil. Glitter Bomb wants steady moisture and should never dry out for long. Planting them in the same bed shortchanges one of them. What works well is distance and layering: put Glitter Bomb at the back of a separate, watered border or in a rain garden, positioned so you look across the lavender toward it. The dark olive mound becomes a backdrop for the silvery lavender in early summer, and from mid-July its big candy-striped flowers take over as the lavender is harvested. Plan the sight lines in the Companion Plant Planner.
Using its size
At up to 6 feet across, one plant fills a lot of space. That makes it useful for covering a bare corner, softening a fence or screening a utility area for the summer. Give it room from the start; it is easier than moving it later.
Care through the year
- Water: consistent moisture. In hot spells, dry soil means wilting and fewer flowers.
- Soil: it grows in poor to fertile soil as long as water is steady.
- Pests: Japanese beetles, aphids and sawfly larvae are the usual visitors. Leaf spot or rust may appear in wet seasons; good airflow helps.
- Spring: it is very late to emerge, often not until late May or June. Mark the spot and do not dig.
- Cutback: trim the woody stems to a few inches in late fall or early spring.
It is fully hardy in Michigan, and pollinators and hummingbirds visit the flowers.
Plug tray or bare root
Glitter Bomb is offered as a full 72-cell plug tray for growers and landscape plantings, and as a bare root plant for a home border. See each product page for current availability.
Frequently asked questions
Is it good for cut flowers?
No. Each bloom lasts about a day and does not hold in a vase. Enjoy it on the plant.
My plant has not come up yet. Is it dead?
Probably not. Hardy hibiscus is one of the last perennials to emerge. Wait until well into June before worrying.
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