Hibiscus Syriacus Shrub Varieties

Hibiscus syriacus is the botanical name for a type of shrub commonly called rose-of-Sharon or shrub Althea. The plant is renowned for its large and showy flowers that can be single- or double-petaled and come in many different colors. Most varieties bloom throughout the summer and are generally suited for U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 8.

White-Flowered Varieties

Several cultivars of rose-of-Sharon have bright white blossoms. One of these is called "White Chiffon," a plant whose flowers are usually about 3 inches in diameter and semi-double, each with a prominent central yellow column of stamens. Like most of these shrubs, it has a vase-shaped growth habit and is quite drought tolerant. "Diana" is another white-flowered variety that has the added benefit of producing few seed pods. It has a long blooming period from early summer into fall and extremely large, 4- to 5-inch-wide, pure white flowers.

Pink-Flowered Types

Many rose-of-Sharon cultivars have flowers in varying shades of pink. Two of the best are "Aphrodite" and "Minerva," varieties that are also extremely tolerant of summer sun and heat. They are erect-growing plants that make excellent specimen shrubs and can be trimmed to a single trunk for a tree-like shape in a formal landscape. "Aphrodite" is about 9 feet in height at maturity and has ruffled pink flowers with a distinct red spot in the center of each flower, while "Minerva" is about 8 1/2 feet tall and has lavender-pink flowers that are more pink towards their centers. Its flowers also have a strongly colored, red eye-spot.

Blue-Flowered Cultivars

The most common flower colors in rose-of-Sharon plants are pink, pinkish-mauve or white. However, one variety, called "Blue Bird," has true-blue flowers, an exceptionally rare color in flowering plants. These unusual flowers are single-petaled and large, with some nearly 5 inches in diameter. Their petals are a medium, clear blue, each with a red spot that gives the flower a red central eye-spot. "Blue Bird" is an especially long-lived shrub that grows at a moderate rate to reach a height of 3 to 4 feet. Another blue-flowered variety, "Blue Satin," reaches a height of 8 to 12 feet and has royal-blue flowers with burgundy red centers.

Bi-Color Flowers

Some rose-of-Sharon varieties have unusual, bi-colored flowers. One of these, called "Antong Two Lil' Kim," is a miniature, 3- to 5-foot-tall shrub that produces many small flowers with three ruffled petals, each with a red blotch that trails into the veins on the white outer part of the petal. While most rose-of-Sharon flowers last only one day, blossoms on this cultivar remain intact for three days. Another cultivar called "Bicolor" has doubled flowers with petals in pale pink to white that are streaked and randomly blotched with a deeper pink. It is a tall shrub that can reach a height of 10 to 15 feet at maturity.

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