This shrubby species is displaying exotic-looking flowers in the Dry Garden.
Reaching up to 3m in height Hibiscus ‘Lavender Chiffon’ is one of over 200 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, perennials and annuals. Members of the genus occur in a variety of habitats, ranging from moist to dry, arid conditions in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions. ‘Lavender Chiffon’ is one of many cultivars of H. syriacus from China to India. It has three-lobed leaves and produces eye-catching flowers which resemble the flowers of hollyhocks, which also belong to the mallow family, Malvaceae. Here it flowers reliably in our Dry Garden, though it grows well in fertile, moist soils, and whatever the soil, requires full sun. ‘Lavender Chiffon’ was raised in 1997 by Roderick Woods of Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire.