What kind of growing environment does the cotton rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) like?

Other names for the cotton rose

The cotton rose is also known as hibiscus flower, frost-rejecting flower, wood lotus, earth hibiscus, and Chinese wood, and is native to China; it is a deciduous shrub of the mallow family (Malvaceae) and the genus Hibiscus.

Growth habits of the cotton rose

The cotton rose likes a warm, humid environment with plenty of sunlight; it tolerates partial shade slightly and has a certain degree of cold hardiness. It is not demanding about soil, but grows best in fertile, moist, well-drained sandy soil. It can be planted in a sunny spot in the courtyard or beside a pond. Normally its care is fairly rough and simple: pay attention to watering during droughts, and each winter or spring dig a trench around the plant and apply some decomposed organic fertilizer, then water promptly and cover the soil back over.

In cold regions, some tender branches of plants grown in the ground may freeze to death in winter; there is no need to bother about it, as new shoots will emerge after the temperature warms up in spring. Pruning is done after flowering. The tree shape can be pruned into either a tree form or a shrub form, but whichever shape is chosen, dead branches, weak branches, and inner branches must be cut away to ensure good ventilation and light penetration inside the canopy. The cotton rose can also be grown in pots; the potting soil should be loose and fertile with good drainage and aeration, and there must be enough water during the growing season to meet its growth needs. In winter, move it indoors to overwinter, maintaining a temperature of 0 to 10°C to ensure it goes dormant.

Morphological characteristics of the cotton rose

The cotton rose is a deciduous shrub or small tree, over 1m tall. The branches and trunk are densely covered with stellate hairs. The leaves are alternate, broadly ovate or round-ovate, palmately 3 to 5-lobed, with tips pointed or acuminate, and stellate down on both sides. The flowers are large, borne singly in the leaf axils at the ends of branches, in colors such as red, pink, and white, with a flowering period from 8 to 10. The capsule is oblate and ripens from 10 to 11. In colder regions it withers at the end of autumn, and the following year new shoots and buds sprout again from the perennial roots. It grows in clumps and is only about 1m tall. Where winter temperatures are higher, however, it can reach 7 to 8m in height, with some reaching 20cm in diameter. The leaves are large, broadly ovate, with 3 to 5 lobes; the lobes are triangular, the base is heart-shaped, the leaf margins have blunt serrations, and both sides are hairy. The flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils at the ends of branches, and may be white, or initially pale red then turning deep red, as well as large red double, white double, half-white half-peach double, and red-and-white mixed forms.

Complete list of cotton rose cultivars

Common cotton rose cultivars

White cotton rose: bears white flowers

Pink cotton rose: flowers are pink

Red cotton rose: bright red flowers, large and double, closely resembling a peony

Yellow cotton rose: also known as yellow mo, yellow flowers, bell-shaped, with a dark purple center, large and double, closely resembling a peony; a rare cultivar

Drunken cotton rose: also known as "three-drunk cotton rose"; it opens white in the early morning, turns peach red at noon, and then becomes deep red in the evening; a rare and precious cultivar.

Application value of the cotton rose

1. Ornamental value. The cotton rose blooms in late autumn, has a long flowering period, blooms profusely, and has many cultivars; its flower color and flower form vary richly with the cultivar, making it an excellent flowering tree species. Because the flowers are large and brightly colored, it has been planted in gardens in China since ancient times, and can be planted as a specimen or in groups by walls, roadsides, in front of halls, and other places. It is especially suitable for planting along watersides; when in bloom, the shimmering water and the reflections of the flowers make each other more beautiful, and it is exceptionally enchanting, hence the name "water-reflecting cotton rose". In addition, planting it in courtyards, on slopes, along roadsides, at forest edges and in front of buildings, or growing it as a flowering hedge, is all very suitable. In the cold north it can also be grown in pots for ornamental viewing.

2. Industrial use. The stem bark contains 39% cellulose; the stem bark fiber is flexible and water-resistant, and can be used as a raw material for cables and textiles, and also for papermaking.

3. Medicinal value. The flowers, leaves, and roots of the cotton rose are rich in medicinal components such as flavonoids, hyperoside, inulin glycosides, phenols, and reducing sugars, all of which can be used as medicine. It can clear heat and detoxify, reduce swelling and discharge pus, and cool the blood to stop bleeding. It is used for lung-heat cough, excessive menstruation, and leukorrhea; externally it treats carbuncles, swellings, sores and boils, mastitis, lymphadenitis, mumps, burns and scalds, venomous snake bites, and traumatic injuries. The well-known "Yulu San" and "cotton rose flower oil" are made from the flowers and leaves of the cotton rose.

Appreciation of cotton rose pictures