Hibiscus syriacus offers some of the most beautiful flowers I know and is a favorite of mine. Alas, it is not made for this climate and this garden, although two specimens had been planted years before.
Hibiscus syriacus loves rich, humid soil and temperatures up to a maximum of 27-30 degrees Celsius. It may survive short periods of drought but in my garden it was always suffering greatly in the summer. It had one or two flowers early on, then the leaves got sunburned and the whole shrub was just begging for mercy or death – whichever came first. After watching this misery for two summers, I finally dug them out and gave them away.
They may work very well in a Mediterranean garden a bit higher up in the mountains but at 70masl it was hopeless.
A plants with similar flowers that does work here is Alcea Rosea – this plant has reseeded itself in this garden for going on two decades I’m told… They get a bit of rust sometimes but the dry climate keeps it in check and they never look as awful as they did in my Swiss garden, where I just stopped growing them.
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