Hey y'all! Hugs, kisses, yada yada yada...
One day last Winter I was out in my shop. I have a nice big shop that doesn't get used nearly enough.
Here go a pitcher of it...
Anyway, I was out in the shop and noticed a bucket of water, with a stick in it. The stick was about 18" long, and about an inch or so thick. "Hmmmm," thought I, "I wonder what sinister plan The Mrs. is hatching here?" But, I got busy and forgot to ask her about the stick in the bucket later.
Time passed, and early last Spring, The Mrs. said, "I'm going out to plant my Confederate Rose." I asked her where it was, and she told me it was in the shop.
Toing! So, that's what that was. In this photo you will see what she actually stuck in the ground (even though it wasn't that thick when she did.
Seems that her Mama had cut off a stick from her own Confederate Rose, given it to her, and the stick rooted over the Winter in the water bucket.
Well, that was about 7 or 8 months ago.
Lookit!
I don't think I've ever seen a flowering plant that grows that fast. (Before anybody becomes a snot, I KNOW that all plants flower, but ya' know what I mean...I mean, make purty flaars! Come to think of it, ferns don't flower...so never mind).
The dang thing is approaching 10 feet tall, and bustin' out all over with blooms.
I guess I wasn't paying attention in Horticulture College when they did the unit on The Confederate Rose. I really didn't know too much about 'em, so I did me a little Goobling (especially after The Mrs. told me that there was a legend associated with the tree/bush/plant/whatever.
The Legend: Once the Confederate Rose was pure white. During the Civil War, a soldier was fatally wounded in battle. He fell upon the rose as he lay dying. During the course of the two days he took to die, he bled more and more on the flower, till at last the bloom was covered with his blood. When he died, the flower died with him. Thereafter, the Confederate Rose (or Cotton Rose), opens white, and over the course of the two days the bloom lasts, they turn gradually from white to pink to almost red, when the flower finally falls from the bush.
About it: The Confederate Rose or hibiscus mutablis is actually a Chinese import. Brought into English gardens in the 1600's, it is said to have gained favor in the South due to its ease of cultivation during the hard financial times after the Civil War. The hibiscus mutablis is a member of the hibiscus family which includes both the tropical hibiscus and the hardier Rose of Sharon. It is considered a large bush or a small multi-stemmed tree. The plant roots easily from cuttings, has few pests and grows vigorously during the summer. Once established it is drought resistant. The blooms appear in the fall.
This here is a picture from our Confederate Rose of the bloom in two different stages.
To be honest, ours have not bloomed out white to start with like all the info says they should. Maybe we've got a little different variety, or something. Dunno...
But, it has been fun to watch.
Hey, look! Y'all have a great what's left of the weekend! Gonna go cut my grass for the last time this year (hopefully...yes, we are indeed still mowing grass in NW Louisiana) on this gorgeous, warm Southern afternoon!
And after that...The Gaaaaaaaaamz...
