Yesterday, I learned of a feature with Dave’s Garden where I could ask a question and perhaps receive an answer regarding the name of the mystery plant in “Pandora’s Garden.” In less than 24 hours I had a reply. I went to the Internet for additional information. This is just one of many links I found and read: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=maar14 .  Quite frankly, I have never heard of this plant but reading about it gives me lots of ideas for cultivating it next Spring.  It will never again have the luxury of so much space in the garden!!

Read more: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2591/#ixzz2YfZniO9j

and: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MAARD

This is an interesting article.  The author rightly captured the Spring gardener:

Most gardeners look forward to spring  when garden  centers are bursting at the seams with new plants and possibilities for  their gardens. They rush hither and thither gathering up beautiful specimens and  bedding pants. They plant them in containers and in strategic places in the garden, and then they sit back to view their  handiwork. For a while all is well, and the gardeners puff up, sit back, and  look around in a self-satisfied manner, completely convinced that their  gardening skills and talents are extraordinary.

But then, summer comes along. To their dismay, most of the pretty spring  flowers become scruffy and unkempt as summer’s heat and humidity take their  toll. The gardens and the gardeners wither. The gardens struggle along, and the  gardeners decide to spend more time on indoor pursuits.

Some wise gardeners knew that this would happen. They had observed their  gardens for years, and they knew which plants would endure the heat and live to  put on a show in the fall. They knew that, like gardeners, the earth breathes a  sigh of relief as the cooler breezes of autumn banish the blistering heat of  summer. Those plants that have been biding their time burst into bloom.  Gardeners who planned for this time venture back outside to enjoy the  revitalized garden and pleasant fall weather.

Turks’ Cap  (Malvaviscus arboreus) has adorned itself with bright red flowers that  hang from its limbs in glorious profusion. Drooping spiraled blossoms that  resemble flowers of an unopened hibiscus dangle from the branches as if the bush  had adorned itself with long drooping earrings in preparation for a ball.

One comment reads: “Hummingbirds love it and it is very hardy and blooms all summer and fall until it freezes.  It is invasive, though, in my beds. It pops up everywhere and I  prune it back often and I still have too much of it. but…the hummingbirds.”

Confession: I’ve read so many web sites and tried to process so much information.  Note that mine has blooms that stand up and do not “dangle from the branches as if the bush had adorned itself with long drooping earrings….”  Before the mystery is labeled “case closed,” I want to find the exact name for the variety in my garden.

Footnote, Saturday, July 13, 2013, 9:40 AM: OK, I have my answer — specifically Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii.