Hardy Hibiscus ‘Fantasia’ Has Profuse Lavender Ruffled Flowers

Summary: Hardy hibiscus ‘Fantasia,’ a compact perennial with profuse lavender ruffled flowers, is a hybrid of crimsoneyed rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos).

Hibiscus x moscheutos ‘Fantasia,’ garden of botanist Robert R. Kowal, Madison, south central Wisconsin: James Steakley, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hardy hibiscus ‘Fantasia,’ a hybrid of two cultivars of popular New World native crimsoneyed rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), frames its profuse lavender ruffled flowers with green, maple-cut leaves in a lengthy blooming period beginning as early as late spring or midsummer and ending in autumn.

Winter hardy hibiscus ‘Fantasia’ is a vigorous cultivar that withstands temperatures down to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34 degrees Celsius). The cold-tolerant perennial is classified for  U.S.D.A. (U.S. Department of Agriculture) hardiness zones 4 to 11.

The exuberant cultivar prefers moisture and sunniness, but easily accepts ordinary garden soils and afternoon shadiness. ‘Fantasia’ is heat tolerant to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).

Stems arise from perennial roots and grow uprightly to about 3 feet (0.91 meters). The compact, uniformly-branched shrub spreads from 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.91 meters).

Arranged alternately along stems, leaves have maple-cut styling. Refined, three-lobed leaves are palmate (Latin: palmatus, “hand-shaped”) in youth and appear palmate to hastate (Latin: hastatus, “armed with a spear”) at maturity. Margins are somewhat serrulate (Latin: serrulatus, “little saw”).

The surface texture of leaves is glabrous (Latin: glaber, “hairless, smooth”). Leaf greenness has some luster.

Leaves mature to a length of about 4 inches (10.16 centimeters). Leaf width reaches about 3.25 inches (8.25 centimeters).

Leafstalks, known as petioles, that attach leaf blades to stems measure about 1.5 inches (3.81 centimeters) in length. Light green petioles acquire a pink blush in the autumn.

‘Fantasia’ maintains visual appeal by way of a lengthily interesting period for both flowers and foliage. Blooming may occur as early as late spring. Profuse blooming steadily continues from midsummer through autumn and stops with the first frost.

Each flowers lives ephemerally for one full day. Plentiful flower buds account for the lengthy blooming period of successive openings.

Flower buds emerge upward from stem midpoints. Each bud is borne singly in leaf axils, the junctures of leaves and stems. Buds have a diameter of 1 to 1.5 inches (2.54 to 3.81 centimeters) and a length of about 3 inches (7.62 centimeters).

Profuse lavender rippled flowers present medium-sized diameters of about 8 inches (20.32 centimeters). Each of a flower’s five petals measures a length of about 4 inches (10.16 centimeters) and a width of about 5.5 inches (13.97 centimeters).

The petals’ lavender coloration is considered a color break in crimsoneyed rosemallow’s usual color palette. Petals may display pink or gray hints. A reddish pink eye, at the base of the petals, has a diameter of about 2 inches (5.08 centimeters).

‘Fantasia’ results from a 40-year breeding program conscientiously followed at Fleming’s Flower Fields in Lincoln, southeastern Nebraska. Ancestry for ‘Fantasia’ traces to various crimsoneyed rosemallow seedlings.

The seed parent for ‘Fantasia’ is an unnamed cultivar produced by crossing Hibiscus ‘Dark Loveliness’ as seed parent with an unnamed crimsoneyed rosemallow as pollen parent. The pollen plant for ‘Fantasia’ is an unnamed crimsoneyed rosemallow.

The first blooming for hardy hibiscus ‘Fantasia’ occurred in summer 1985. On April 12, 1999, David W. Fleming and apprentice Gretchen Zwetzig filed a patent application for hardy hibiscus ‘Fantasia.’ Primary examiner Bruce R. Campbell and assistant examiner Wendy A. Baker conducted the review of the application’s claims. On May 1, 2001, the application for patent number US PP11,853 was granted.

Hardy hibiscus ‘Fantasia’ attests to the careful creativity of Fleming’s Flower Fields’ expertly designed hibiscus hybridization program. David Fleming passed away in 2001. As a Fleming apprentice since 1993, Gretchen Zwetzig purchased the nursery in order to continue the Fleming family’s legacy of outstanding hybridization.

The lovely lavender ruffled flowers and elegant maple-cut foliage of hardy hibiscus ‘Fantasia’ continue to command gracious attention in private and public settings.

Hibiscus 'Fantasia,' entire plant, just beginning to bloom; third of three images included in David W. Fleming and Gretchen A. Zwetzig’s patent application, filed April 12, 1999, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ https://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/11800/pp11853.pdf

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Hibiscus x moscheutos ‘Fantasia,’ garden of botanist Robert R. Kowal, Madison, south central Wisconsin: James Steakley, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hibiscus_moscheutos_%27Fantasia%27.jpg

Hibiscus 'Fantasia,' entire plant, just beginning to bloom; third of three images included in David W. Fleming and Gretchen A. Zwetzig’s patent application, filed April 12, 1999, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ https://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/11800/pp11853.pdf

For further information:

Fleming, David W., and James R. Fleming. “Hibiscus Plant Named ‘Fantasia.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Patent Images on the Web. May 1, 2001.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=PP011853

Garden Splendor® Plants. “Best Perennials  - Hibiscus ‘Fantasia’ (Rose Mallow).” YouTube. March 24, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBSfV5gsAOY

“Hibiscus ‘Fantasia.’ Missouri Botanical Garden > Gardens & Gardening > Your Garden > Plant Finder.
Available @ http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=z140

“Hibiscus ‘Fantasia’ PP11853.” Walters Gardens > Breeder Profile: The Fleming Brothers > Plant View.
Available @ http://www.waltersgardens.com/plants/view/?plant=417

“Hibiscus plant named ‘Fantasia.’ United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). May 1, 2001.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP011853

“Hibiscus x moscheutos Fleming’s Fantasia™.” Fleming’s Flower Fields.
Available @ https://www.flemingsflowers.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/8/index.htm

Marriner, Derdriu. "Crimsoneyed Rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) Has White to Red Flowers." Earth and Space News. Saturday, July 23, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/07/crimsoneyed-rosemallow-hibiscus.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Floriferous Hardy Hibiscus 'Kopper King' Has Copper or Purple Leaves." Earth and Space News. Sunday, July 24, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/07/floriferous-hardy-hibiscus-kopper-king.html

Zwetzig, Gretchen. “The Hybridization of Flemings Flower Fields.” American Nurseryman > Growing. March 1, 2012.
Available @ http://www.amerinursery.com/growing/the-hybridization-of-flemings-flower-fields/