The Addicted Gardener: Make this your year for Hardy Hibiscus Donna Lane, Columnist If you’re still planning how to liven up your garden this season, especially adding a splash of tropical flair or intense color, you might want to consider planting a couple of Hardy Hibiscus. Recently assigned by the National Garden Bureau as "The Year of the Hardy Hibiscus," it is a fast-growing perennial that explodes with huge, pinwheel-like flowers in late summer. Hibiscus is both the common and botanical name for a few different popular classes of the plant. The following is a description of each of them and how they differ: