Habitat

• native to China and India
• hardy to zone 5
• Special Note: This species has demonstrated an invasive tendency in Connecticut, meaning it may escape from cultivation and naturalize in minimally managed areas. For more information, Click Here.

Habit and Form

• a deciduous, flowering shrub
• 8' to 10' tall
• 6' to 8' wide
• upright, spreading branching
• develops a vase-shaped outline
• often leggy at the base
• multi-stemmed with lots of vertical branches

Summer Foliage

• alternate, simple, deciduous leaves
• leaves 3-lobed
• margins coarsely toothed
• 2" to 4" long
• medium to dark green
• leaf surface glabrous sometimes shiny
• late to leaf out in spring

Autumn Foliage

• yellow-green
• leave hold late
• overall poor effect

Flowers

• large, showy blossoms in July, August, and September
• white, pink, magenta, violet, blue, and combinations of these
• 5-petaled
• 2" to 4" across
• single or double
• flowers are solitary
• produced on current season's growth

Fruit

• a brown capsule
• 0.75" long
• persists through the winter
• 5-valved

Bark

• light gray

Culture

• full sun is best, but tolerant of partial shade
• soils are not critical
• easily transplanted
• annual pruning back will result in increases shoot vigor and larger flowers
• likes hot weather
• may need to remove winter killed stems

Landscape Use

• shrub border
• screen
• groupings and mass plantings
• useful for late season bloom
• do not use as a specimen plant
• standard forms may be used as small trees

Liabilities

• does not have multi-season ornamental appeal
• winter injury and twig dieback
• late to leaf out in spring
• leaf spot, cankers, rust, aphids, spider mites

ID Features

• 3-lobed leaves
• late summer large flowers
• distinctive vase-shaped habit
• persistent 5-valved capsules
• indistinct buds
• shelf-like projections mark the position of previous flowers and fruit
• thread-like stipules are persistent

Propagation

• by cuttings
• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

Dozens of forms are available, but the following listing encompasses cultivars that indicate the range of types offered.

'Aphrodite' - This U.S. National Arboretum introduction features dark pink flowers exhibiting a dark red eyespot. The foliage is heavily textured. As this plant is a triploid, it should not produce as many seedlings. Some observations indicate ample seed production.

'Ardens', 'Blushing Bride' and 'Peoniflora' - These cultivars are just a few of the many forms sold at nurseries with double blooms of a pink or rose hue.

'Blue Bird' (also listed as 'Bluebird') - A form with single flowers that are a blue with a reddish base, this old form is still popular in the trade.

'Diana' - This triploid U.S. National Arboretum introduction is one of the best white-flowered forms. The blooms are large and lack a central blotch. They remain open at night and are produced over a long period due to little or no seed production. This plant appears to be less vigorous than other forms.

'Helene' - A triploid form producing white flowers that are maroon at the base, this U.S. National Arboretum introduction flowers heaviliy and sets little fruit.

'Minerva' - A heavy-blooming cultivar with lavender flowers overcast with some pink, this plant remains smaller and more shrubby (to 9' tall). The flowers have a red eye and the foliage is higher quality than the species. A U.S. National Arboretum introduction reportedly performing well into USDA zone 5.

'Pink Giant' - This form bears large, 5" wide pink blooms with a deep red central blotch. It grows 8' tall and wide.

'Purpureus Variegatus' and 'Meehanii' - These are two of the more common variegated forms, featuring leaves variously edged or mottled with white, yellow, and gray. The flowers are of secondary interest on these plants.

'Tri-color' - This is a very unusual cultivar with double flowers colored pink, red and purple on one plant.