News from Smithfield Gardens

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Altheas - Summer Show Stoppers

Althea 'Blue Satin'

One of my childhood memories is of my brother and I attempting to push each other into what we called the bumble bee plant, trying our best to get the other stung. Now we get along much better, and I know this multi-stemmed shrub by its botanical name, Hibiscus syriacus. It has several common names depending on who you talk to and what part of the world you live in. Around here you will mostly hear it referred to as Althea or Rose of Sharon. This plant was common in our great grandmothers' garden, but has somewhat gone out of favor. I think this lack of interest in Althea is due to it being considered old-fashioned and the fact that many of the older varieties produced lots of offspring that would come up where they were not necessarily wanted. Lately plant breeders have been developing new cultivars of this plant, with more interesting flowers, variegated foliage, dwarf growing habits and less fertile seeds.

Althea 'Helene'

Althea has a history that is even older than your great grandmother's garden. It is native to eastern and southern Asia, and is in fact the national flower of Korea where it is a symbol of immortality. It is believed that Althea was carried over ancient trade routes to the Middle East. It was first encountered by Europeans in the 1600's primarily around Syria, hence its botanical name. From Europe it came to America where it has been grown since the 19th century. One reason this plant has been so widely popular is because of its large, very showy flowers, which can be white, lavender, pink, red, violet-blue or mauve. The blossoms can be double, but are more often single, and many of them have a red eye in the center of the flower. They also tend to flower in the hottest part of the summer, when few other shrubs are blooming. The other reason for their popularity is their ease of growth, being able to withstand winter temperatures far below zero, as well as tolerating the hottest of southern summers. They prefer full to partial sun, and are also drought and salt tolerant once established.

Althea 'Lavender Chiffon'

The U.S. National Arboretum introduced several varieties that we have carried for years, and all of them are named for figures in Greek mythology. 'Aphrodite' is dark pink, 'Minerva' is light purple, and both have a prominent red eye. My two favorites from this group are the pure white 'Diana', and 'Helene', which is also white but has a very showy red eye. Both of these set very little fruit and are considered well-behaved. The Chiffon series offers several colors, all of which have large flowers with lacy centers. The Satin series also offers some spectacular color selections, but all of these are showy single blooms with distinctive red eyes. New for us this year is the variety 'Sugar Tip', which has showy double pink flowers and variegated green and creamy white foliage. Most Altheas, including the ones mentioned above, will grow about 8-12' tall by 6-10' wide. However if this is too big for you, there is a new dwarf selection called 'Lil' Kim'. This variety only gets about 3-4' tall and wide and has dainty white flowers with a bold red eye.

So if you are interested in an easy to grow, showy shrub that will provide lots of summer color - consider Althea. We have plenty in stock, so you won't have to wait on the next camel caravan from the Far East.

Les Parks