Midnight Marvel combines deep wine purple, maple-like leaves with 8- to 9-inch scarlet red flowers. Glossy black-red buds open along several points of each stem, so it blooms over a long stretch from midsummer into early fall.
The plant is relatively compact at about 4 feet tall and 4½ feet wide. The leaves are thick and leathery, and full sun is needed for the darkest foliage color. It has been a top performer in trials and makes a bold anchor for a sunny, moist bed.
What it looks like
A compact, bushy plant about 48 inches tall and 54 inches wide of thick, leathery, deeply cut maple-like leaves in deep wine purple. Glossy black-red buds open to flowers 8 to 9 inches across in deep scarlet red. Buds form at several nodes along the stems, so flowers appear over much of the plant. At peak the dark purple bush is lit with large scarlet saucers.
Growing it with lavender
It shares lavender's love of sun but not its dry feet, so give it a spot in a moist, regularly watered bed or rain garden instead.
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: Deep scarlet red
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Foliage: Deep wine purple
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Growth habit: Compact, bushy plant
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Mature size: 4 ft tall × 54 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-July
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Peak bloom: Mid-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
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