Hibiscus syriacus Carpa PP 24965
(aka: Hibiscus ‘Showtime’) We typically don’t offer woody hibiscus, but this new selection of the Chinese native Hibiscus syriacus (rose of Sharon) was too good not to share. From Canadian nurseryman Paul Van Der Kroft comes Hibiscus ‘Carpa’ (sold as “Showtime”), discovered by Paul in 2000 as a sport on the sterile 1800s introduction, Hibiscus ‘Ardens’. Hibiscus ‘Carpa’ forms a 8′ tall x 4′ wide column, like a middle-finger salute, clothed with creamy-yellow-edged green leaves, and adorned in summer with lovely lilac-lavender double flowers…what a showpiece in the sunny garden! Hibiscus syriacus needs a bit of mythbusting. The specific epithet “syriacus” is a bit misleading…first it isn’t from Syria as Linnaeus assumed, but was traded from China via the Silk Road prior to the 1600s. Also, it doesn’t like or need dry soil, since it grows wild along Chinese sea cliffs and streams.
