Last year my Mom and I scouted out some perennial hibiscus plants at the St. Jacobs Farmers Market. You have have seen these show-stoppers around, they’ve become more and more popular over the last few years. They tend to come in a deep red, pinks or white with pink centres. I brought one home and plunked it in the front flower bed. I think I got a few flowers on it last year (they start kind of late in the season), but this year it is huge and flowering like crazy.
The flowers on these babies can top out at approximately 8 or 9 inches across! My plant is about 4 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. To balance him off I have some red sunflowers growing beside him (grown from seed, “Velvet Queen” by McKenzie Seeds).
Hibiscus makes for a great beer ingredient too, as evidenced by Dieu du Ciel! You should try out their Rosée d’hibiscus if you haven’t already.
Check out:
http://micro.dieuduciel.com/en/beers.php