Dark Mystery is a proven, reliable performer with deep wine purple foliage and large 8- to 9-inch white flowers. Each bloom has a cherry red eye and dark pink veins, and the contrast against the dark heart-shaped leaves is striking.
It is a larger variety, forming a rounded plant 5 to 5½ feet tall and wide, and flowers from mid-August into September. Use it in big beds and landscapes where you want a bold statement.
What it looks like
A large, rounded bush 60 to 66 inches tall and wide covered in heart-shaped leaves of very dark wine purple. Flowers are 8 to 9 inches across, saucer-shaped, white with a cherry red eye and dark pink veins radiating along the petals. Blooms are held across the outer surface of the plant. At peak the dark purple dome is studded with large bright white flowers.
Growing it with lavender
Grow it in a sunny spot with steady moisture, such as a rain garden or the back of a watered border, rather than in lean lavender soil.
Care
Give it full sun to bring out the darkest leaf color. It grows in poor to fertile soil but needs consistent moisture; hardy in zones 4-9. It emerges late in spring, so mark its spot, and cut old stems to the ground in late fall or early spring.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Hibiscus
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Flower color: White with a cherry red eye and dark pink veins
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Foliage: Dark wine purple
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Growth habit: Large, rounded bush
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Mature size: 5 ft–66 in tall × 5 ft–66 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Mid-August
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Peak bloom: Late-August
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Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
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Deer resistance: Moderately resistant
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Pollinator value: Great
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly. Hardy hibiscus arrives fully dormant and is one of the last perennials to wake up: expect no new growth until late May or June. That is normal, so plant it, water lightly and be patient.
Shipping note: Emerges late; dormant crowns look lifeless in spring until growth starts in late May or June.
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
