An Old-Fashioned Fall Flower

We are thinking to add an arbor-pergola to an existing side brick patio down the hill from our house.  Our builder invited us over after church this last Sunday to take a look at her arbor-pergola to help with design ideas for building the arbor.

While standing out under her beautiful arbor,  I looked over to the left side of her backyard and saw a tree filled with beautiful pink flowers.   This tree is a popular heirloom favorite among Southern gardens.  The flowers are 4 to 6 inches wide, fully double, bright pink, peony-like blooms.  When you see these blooms you know Fall is not very far away.

A popular old-fashioned Southern heirloom tree.

Confederate Rose

The Confederate Rose was once very common in the Confederate States of America.  The original Confederate States were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.  The hardiness zones for the Confederate Rose are 6, 7, 8, and 9.

They say this beautiful Southern tree is very easy to grow.  It likes full sun,  but can tolerate partial shade.  It prefers rich, well drained soil.  It is a favorite pass-along plant since it is so easy to root cuttings in water.

This tree is sometimes called "The Cotton Tree"  because it's leaves resemble 

cotton foliage and it's round flower buds remind some of cotton bolls.

I wish I had stood back and taken a picture of the whole tree which was probably 12 feet tall and probably the same width.  But these flowers were all I could think about when I spotted the beautiful pink blossoms.

My husband tried to grow one of these trees many years ago, but it did not survive.  It probably did not survive because we have so much shade in our yard.  But, after seeing this tree growing so beautifully yesterday I really want to try our luck at planting one of these trees again.

With a little luck and a sunny location, hopefully, next Fall I will be able to take pictures of these beautiful Confederate Rose  blossoms growing in our yard.

Well! I hope it was a happy Monday for you today, and that all is well wherever you may be.