Watermelon Ruffles has highly decorative 7-inch magenta pink flowers with heavily ruffled petals. The ends of the petals are so puckered they look notched, giving each bloom a frilly, textured outline.
Buds form along the full length of the stems, so flowering starts earlier in the season than traditional types and continues into early fall. Dark green leaves with a bronze cast set off the bright flowers. The plant grows about 4½ feet tall and wide and draws pollinators to the late summer garden.
What it looks like
A full, rounded bush about 54 inches tall and wide of dark green leaves with a bronze cast. Flowers are about 7 inches across, magenta pink, with heavily ruffled petals whose tips are so puckered they look notched. Blooms appear along the full length of the stems. At peak the plant is dotted with frilly magenta pink flowers against dark bronze-green foliage.
Growing it with lavender
Full sun suits it, but its thirst for steady moisture puts it in a watered border, pond edge or rain garden rather than beside lavender.
Care
Plant in full sun for the most flowers; part shade is tolerated. It grows in poor to fertile soil but needs consistent moisture and should never dry out for long; hardy in zones 4-9. It is slow to wake up in spring, so mark the spot, and cut the 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: Magenta pink
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Foliage: Dark green with a bronze cast
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Growth habit: Full, rounded bush
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Mature size: 54 in 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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