Hibiscus- Scarlet Rosemallow (Hibiscus coccineus) (Florida Native)

Hibiscus coccineus

A beautiful long lived perennial Florida native flower. In the wild, this plant is found in or next to very wet sites like strands, sloughs, swamps, and brackish and freshwater marshes.

In a home landscape, this would be a great plant to have in an area of your yard that sees flooding during our rainy season, or on the edge of a pond betweenthe high and low water mark. However, H. coccineus may need supplemental water during our dry spells until well established. During spring and summer this plant can grow between 5 and 8 feet tall and up to 4 foot wide and will produce many deep red to white flowers up to 6 inches wide well into fall. Scarlet Rosemallow is the larval host of the Gray Hairstreak, the Painted Lady, the Common Checkered Skipper, and the Tropical Checkered Skipper butterfly as well as the Pearly Wood Nymph, the Yellow Scallop, the Io , and the Delightful Bird-Dropping Moth, and attracts many native bees including the Rose-mallow Bee which is a Hibiscus specialist.

This plant is what’s known as an Herbaceous Perennial.

Herbaceous perennials are plants with non-woody stems that naturally die back to the ground (the crown) in the winter. While the top growth withers, the root system remains alive and vital underground, waiting to send up vigorous new shoots in the spring.

​In a native landscape, the best practice is to leave these old, dried stems standing through the winter rather than cutting them back. These hollow or pithy stems serve as critical overwintering nesting sites for native solitary bees and other beneficial insects.

Contrary to some in the plant industry, we continue to sell our perennials even when dormant in the winter because that is the best time to transplant. Depending on the plant, you may receive a pot with an old stem attached, or you may receive what looks like a pot of dirt. Both are normal! The new growth will emerge from the soil at the base. Rest assured, every plant's root system is thoroughly inspected before shipping.