Hibiscus, Rose of Sharon, Shrub Althea

Beautiful flower

Have had Rose of Sharon in all of my gardens over the last 35 years. Beautiful blooms in August in mid-western Ontario along Lake Huron....Read More However this plant, at this location and climate is completely invasive through self-seeding. I literally pull hundreds of seedlings each year from only two mature plants. Have propagated many as gifts and along a fence line with absolutely no difficulty. Most beautiful when plants of two colours are grown in the same spot to produce a variety of blooms, mine are pink and purple. At this location the Rose of Sharon is far more robust than my hibiscus and not at all prone to insect devastation.

With only 500-600mm rainfall here, it rarely self-seeds, not to mention becoming a weed. I always loved this plant and just planted 80 of...Read More them. Their leaves are said to have medicinal value, the flowers edible. I will try them once.
In fact, I got so many plants because of the tortoises I keep: a welcomed and nutricious supplement with lots of pollen, right when the native broadleaf weeds are scorched in late summer; quite a famine time, and tortoises usually would fast, burrow and aestivate for a while otherwise. So, instead of a few difficult weeks, the juicy flowers fatten the torties and get them in good shape for the hibernation.

Beautiful; covered with bees, visited by hummingbirds, but HORRIBLY INVASIVE, spreading by seed. Come late spring into late summer, I am...Read More ripping out seedlings out by the high hundreds. And only because it's my neighbor's and they know nothing about controlling their huge, out of control, monstrosity. I have one, which I faithfully prune and attempt to remove the spent seed heads, but even so, that one still manages to reseed, just a few seedlings I am happy to say.

I have two long hedges of Hibiscus Syriacus in the North of Italy zone 7a. I have all the four colors but I collected seeds in Connecticu...Read Moret from a plant that seemed to have a darker shade of blue. The new plants that I got form those seeds have much more variability in colors that the local indigenous plants and also bloom about one or two weeks before the other. The only thing that is a bit annoying is that this plant has an insect the Firebug, ( Pyrrhocoris Apterus ) that tend to make colonies at the base of the plant.

I am a +/- on the Althea. My garden is in a micro climate zone 6b with river bottom soil. Between my neighbor's box elder and mimosa an...Read Mored my Althea, I spend most of my year pulling volunteer seedlings out of my flower garden. As a new gardner I planted a "tri-color" Althea purchased at a garden club sale. I liked where it was, but learned to be brutal to it. I trimmed it to the least vigorous leader, making a nice 7 foot rounded tree with white flowers. It requires removing seed pods and pruning in the fall , but is a nice counterbalance with my climbing rose and lilies. Would I plant another one, no way.

I grew althea for over 15 years in the CA mountains (about Z6) in soil that was quite acidic. Never a problem of controlling the plant. ...Read More I've had several of them in central OK for the past 8 years and I love them. There has never been a hint of invasiveness, and I have at least 4 different varieties. The soil here is neutral, running a bit to alkaline.
I recently took some cuttings off a plant that I really want, and was pleased to see that all of them seem to be rooting.
Unless something changes drastically, they will remain one of my favorite large ornamentals. For me, they are less care and bloom longer than the big crape myrtles that also are so popular here.

Living in Knoxville TN, I have had the opportunity to do some yard maintenance for friends/neighbors. What grows here is a small tree - n...Read Moreo shrub. And, invasive??? Get yourself some very strong hands, for you are going to need them - for 100s of these trees' horrible shoots. They immediately put a root straight down to H***. The longer you let them stay in the ground, the taller the plant and deeper the root. Cutting the root at the ground's surface is a sure-fire way of having it come back in less than a week. Round-up merely poisons the soil but does nothing to kill the obnoxious seedlings. Don't say you were not given a warning!

I also consider this plant to be an invasive weed (in my PA zone 5 yard.) One came with the property when I bought my house, and it appea...Read Morers to propagate via running roots, like raspberries do. The original shrub I had torn out, but it had already established itself across the chain-link fence into my neighbor's yard. They love it, unfortunately, so I'm still yanking out shoots along my side of the fence & hacking off branches that grow between the links and droop over the fence into my yard, to give my own plantings some room and sunlight. Worst thing to plant IMHO, unless you've got a few fallow acres you don't care about.

The most invasive shrub I have ever encountered. Throws seeds all over the place which in turn grow new shrubs. My daughter has a ton of ...Read Morethem from previous owner and I use nearly a gallon of roundup every spring to kill off the seedlings and pull the ones out that just won't die. Hate it with a vengence. If they weren't so huge, I'd pull every one of them out and burn them.

An aggressive self-sower here in Boston Z6a. Even the cultivars bred for sterility are not truly sterile.

I've maintained ...Read Moresome by pollarding, cutting the pod-bearing branches back hard annually just before they begin to open in the fall, and this seems to help reduce self-sowing and improve flowering. Still, they're a lot of work. For a shrub with late summer bloom, I'd rather grow the new Z6-hardy crepe myrtles (Lagerstromia).

Exceptionally late to leaf out in spring, not till June here.

Individual flowers last less than a day, closing in late afternoon, except for one or two cultivars.

The USDA and US Forest Service give information about this species' invasiveness here:

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/rose-of-sh...
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=HISY

When I moved to Kentucky, I was told the property had two "beautiful" Rose of Sharon trees. Coming from Wisconsin, I had no idea what tho...Read Morese were. When they bloomed, I thought they were gorgeous.

Until the following spring when I found there were hundreds of seedlings in the flower bed I was rehabilitating. There are also hundreds of them in the woods at the edge of the property, along the road to our house and pretty much anywhere within a five mile radius of ANY Rose of Sharon tree.

The USDA lists it as invasive in Kentucky (it actually has it listed as Weed of the Week) stating it crowds out native plants. For that reason alone, I will never plant this again, and will try to pull as many seedlings from my property.

I'd strongly advise anyone who cares about natural habitats to consider removing the trees they have, and pulling the seedlings. And certainly to not plant any additional Rose of Sharon trees. There are far more beautiful, natural selections that can be found.

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/rose-of-sh...

Thanks so much for posting this. We actually have this tree in our house and we are looking for a company for tree maintenance in Minnesota

Can't wait to see how my plants will turn out! I just love these flowers and had to dig some up while on vacation. I have the normal hibi...Read Morescus but wanted something else as well. I have about 8-12 newly transplanted plants from my Grandmas house in west Virgina and brought them down to FL. Each plant right now is about a foot or so tall and doing great in their new home after 6 days of being in FL "dirt" (for those who are not familar with FL dirt its a nasty gray sand). Even noticing some bright new green leaves on a couple of them. One looked like it wasn't going to make it and was rather wilted for a few days but now starting to straighten up.

I took cuttings from my Dad's old home because he is gone now and his Rose of Sharon is still with us. I in turn have given cuttings to ...Read Moremy children. Originally we planted a couple cuttings by the chimney but moved them when they got too big and now they are by the deck. Hummingbirds love the blossoms and as far as being invasive, I just weed the new sprouts as they come up. My only problem now (July) is Japanese beetles. I will spray but a mother robin has built a nest in the foliage so I will have to wait until her babies leave. I have both purple and white/rose. The white/rose is my favorite and a bit more rare, I think.

To all that love this plant/tree: I have posted two pictures of this wonderful plant. I tried over and over to propagate this plant with ...Read Moreno success. Then one day, during my yearly inspection for my nursery my inspector said try air propagation. I thought to myself, da, I should have been doing that all along. It worked, and it did not take the three months I was told it would, it took 5 weeks. I only have about 30+ plants left (friend and family have the rest). I plan to propagate this plant till the day I die. It is beautiful, and I have not had the problems that others have talk about. My grandmother had a solid pink one when I was growing up, now I have a blue/lavender one. Its like having a wonderful carnation tree, as they do look more like a carnation.

I have spent every growing season for the last 17 years pulling up seedlings in my garden beds and mowing over those in my lawn. Still, ...Read Morewhat began as ONE "tricolor" bush - really three different color varieties in one large pot - has managed to spread all over my yard. I foolishly allowed it to grow to maturity in a few spots and, despite my best efforts to clear these spots for new beds, the roots still survive and send up shoots. Will be clearing off snow and attacking with a drill and salt-vinegar solution in a few months, as suggested by a local landscaper who thinks he eradicated them from his yard two years ago.

Pretty flowers but HIGHLY invasive in the Cincinnati area.
Self seeds so densely that it broke the chain-link fence in my backyard.

I love this plant. It bloomed from May to November in my New Mexico garden. My Grandma had one for years. Mine succumbed to a rare har...Read Mored bitter freeze we got in Feb. this year. But since we don't get much rain it never reseeded. I assume from other comments that even though mine looked very nice, I should have watered it more. I would plant one again as it loves the desert.

My wife and I planted our althea about a year after we had our house built and it has done very well, that was six years ago. Although it...Read More suffered from aphids for a couple of seasons two years ago and after battling those pesky critters with several spray pesticides I tried a granular systemic around the roots… problem solved.
My wife loves this plant I have seen some hummingbirds come for a visit now and again I guess they like too!
I read some of the Negative reports about it spreading throughout their yard, land, drives, porches, etc… many of my family members have had altheas and they or I have never had this occur. My family member’s plants are between 15 to 30 years old and have never “wandered” away from the original planting area. I wish ours would spread so I can have more to put around.
All in all it has been a very easy plant to keep.

I planted one at my previous home in Round Rock Texas and loved it. It was covered with blooms pretty much all summer long. I watered it ...Read Morewhen I got around to it (not regularly) and it didn't seem to phase it a bit. Several stated that the plant is invasive. I didn't have any issue with this whatsoever. Mine was planted in my yard, in St. Augustine grass that was mowed regularly. Maybe this is why.

Normally I would steer people away from Rose of Sharon or at least give them a warning. The weedy varieties of this plant are beyond agg...Read Moreressive. However, with skepticism I planted Althea and I am pleasantly surprised. I've had 3 shrubs for 5 years and they are very slow growers as opposed to their cousins and they don't reseed much at all. I've got other ROS nearby so I can't be sure whose seeds they are, but I have my suspicions. For those of you who have mature shrubs yet despise plucking the millions of seedlings out of the ground every spring, try planting pachysandra under the shrubs. I found this out by accident when a patch crept under some of my shrubs. A thick patch of pachysandra works like a charm in choking out 99% of the seedlings. I've seen some advice that says to trim off the old pods before the mature but realistically who can do that with large shrubs.

I just love this plant! I just recieved a few seedlings. Can I plant these in a defused sunlight location? I have a place on the north si...Read Morede of my home that I feel they will look great. Just not sure if they will get the sun they might require.

My neighbor has a lovely althea which is in full bloom right now. However, the plant has become rather top heavy in growth. Currently our...Read More weather here in New Orleans is bringing daily heavy rain showers causing the canopy of the tree to bend severly. Seeking advise on how best to deal with this problem while maintaining the beauty of the tree. Should the tree be pruned and if so, how should this be done? The growth pattern of this althea is less shrub-like than most I have observed in other gardens. This specimen is more in tree-form, growing from a sturdy single trunk and spanning out and upwards with single long branches which, when pounded by the rains, bend and droop almost to the ground. Any advise wold be most appreciated.

The bicolor white and red single bloom variety has been passed along from generation to generation in my family for at least five generat...Read Moreions and likely well over 100yrs. If you are looking for a viariety that does NOT freely self seed, ours doesn't and has been passed along by cutting. I can't remember any seedlings popping up, but it does grow exceptionally well from cutting. The down side is it doesn't like to grow in tree form, and as soon as you prune it new branches form within the week. Otherwise, it is very hardy and disease resistant.

The double purple variety seems to get aphids easily, but the white and red single has so far been pretty resistant. Overall a very nice plant with lots of sentimental value!

I could be wrong, but I think the problem you are having with self seeding may be due to the variety. I have a beautiful, ten-year-old B...Read Morelue Bird Rose of Sharon that has never self seeded. So, just ask for the infertile varities. I love my Rose of Sharon well enough that I'd trim off the seed capsules or weed around them if I had to in order to keep it around. Crepes and Rose of Sharon are garden mainstays in OKC when the heat cranks up and some plants just give out.

Ditto every negative statement about this weed. I bought property that had 6 of these planted. That was five years and 5,000 seedlings ...Read Moreago. I have already begun to cut every one down. No amount of round-up or weed-be-gone has affected the seedlings, they simply turn yellow and persist. My hands are raw from trying to pull the seedlings out of the ground. They have deep tap roots making it difficult.

Where I live in Middle Tennessee this is an extremely invasive plant. It has come under my concrete patio and asphalt driveway and sent ...Read Moreup tough, woody stalks as much as 40 feet from the original shrub. My advice would definitely be to pass on this rascal.

My local nurseryman chuckled when I asked about sterile varieties. He said none are completely sterile. I planted several 'Minerva' & '...Read MoreAphrodite' in my backyard along my fence anyway because I always read that they were sterile. I should have listened to my nurseryman. I have volunteers in the hundreds around them every spring. Fortunately, I have a couple 'Blue Chiffon' in my frontyard that are beautiful & self-sow very little. So my view of Rose of Sharon are mixed. I'm thinking of getting rid of all the backyard ones. What a weedy pain!

Don't plant this, unless that is all you want on your property!
This is an extremely invasive plant. I had several of them remove...Read Mored from one side of my yard, and the next year, millions of little seedlings came up in an adjacent bed, and I had to painstakingly pull them all out.
2 years later, I am still getting seedlings here and there.
This large shrub acts more like a weed!
The flowers are nice, but if you let it, it will take over everything!
There are so many other flowering shrubs that are NOT invasive.

The 'White Chiffon' variety has proven not to be invasive in our Chicago area garden. Japanese beetles love the flowers, but we have no ...Read Moreother problems with this variety. It's easy to grow and works well in our area.

Rose of Sharon is an exotic invasive WEED plant, and is listed as invasive by many States. Do NOT plant this thing. It will "volunteer" f...Read Morerom seeds. Plant something Native instead, or at least something that does not spread by seeds.

I got this plant as a gift from a neighbor when I moved a few years ago. It grew quickly and delighted me with blooms from spring through...Read More fall. The bees and the hummingbirds loved it too. I took some cuttings to bring with my my house when I moved again in 2008. Those cuttings took well in the new garden. I thought they had died in the harsh winter the Houston area had 2009/2010, but they came back. And at their feet, lots of little seedlings! I put up having to pull the seedlings because I love the blooms. But if you don't like weeding, give this one a miss.

Zone 8b, Heat Zone 9 Lake Sam Rayburn, Broaddus, deep East, TX
Althea is one of my favorite shrubs. However, I have always prune...Read Mored in the Fall (not good) I read it blooms on last years growth. Learn something new on Dave's Garden every day.
PROPOGATION: I cut a branch off & poke a hole in the ground, place my branch in hole in the Fall or Spring & it grows into a lovely Althea tree.
It is so easy & trouble free to grow.
Keep those hands dirty & warm.

I agree the plant is invasive, but the sturdiness of the plant and the bloom make it worthwhile. In addition to bees, hummingbirds love ...Read Morethis flower. To keep the seedlings under control, cut the immature seed pods off before they ripen. Don't be afraid to prune aggressively to keep it in shape. They love a good haircut and will come back full and well-shaped. I agree also that they belong in a place where their bare branches are not noticable, but surprise you with an unexpected show later in summer. Good luck cutting it down! It will probably come back from the roots.

Have 2 double flower shrubs against a wood fence with carpet red roses at their feet (great combo), but dismayed that hummingbirds can't ...Read Moreget into double flowers, actually watched a frustrated bird try to access. Want to bring hummingbirds back by adding a 3rd single-bloom variety, but now worried about 'invasive' comments below. Does white/red center also have this problem? Anyone recommend specific color/variety?

We planted this lovely grower 10 years ago in full sun, it has grown beautifully and produces gorgeous pink/white blooms. Also our sprink...Read Moreler system keeps it watered often.

Yes it is beautiful in bloom and I don't even mind all the bees BUT it is very, very invasive. I will be cutting mine down this spring a...Read Morend replacing with something not invasive.

I love these bushes! The house we moved into already had some very mature, tall bushes that serve as a privacy fence. We just bought a ne...Read Morew bush two months ago for the other side of the yard and although it is small, it has had the most beautiful blooms. Just last week it started dropping leaves and hasn't stopped. It's almost bald! What happened? It's in a sunny spot. Help!

Beautiful, easy, no-maintenance plant. It's tropical-looking blooms are a welcome addition in our Canadian garden.

We gained five altheas in a recent move to a new house. They are about 7 feet tall and trained very attractively in topiary style. They...Read More start leafing out in April here and are now fully leafed out. They haven't bloomed yet, but several of my new neighbors have mentioned that they are quite spectacular all summer long.

My "tree that grew in Brooklyn" was a large rose of Sharon tree that grew in our tiny front garden. In August it was covered with bubble-...Read Moregum pink flowers that were so "double" they looked like carnations. I haven't seen another one like it and would appreciate any info re obtaining one.

We have a Rose of Sharon "Diana" and let me tell you, in Chicago, this shrub is awesome! We have it growing like a tree with the lower ...Read Morebranches removed. As new homeowners buying in May, we had no idea this was anything other than some tree cramped between our house and the next (about 15 feet between houses). When fall came, I peeked out a window we normally keeped draped because the neighbors window is right there and BAM! A "tree" that had thousands of huge white flowers with magenta centers. Beautiful! The blooms were about 6 inches in diameter and my cat just sat on that windowsill and watched the birds all day come and go from the Rose of Sharon "tree."

Hibiscus Syriacus is great bush for me in Zone 5A. Blooms are tropical looking (Single flowered hisbiscus') and come later in the season...Read More. They need well drained soil in winter here. If we have a wet and rough winter many loose them. Cause of the drainage. Are very late to leaf out with the Buddleia davidii, and the Campsis Radican. To keep mine from looking dead for the spring time. I plant a Early blooming type A or B Clematis with them when they are still young. Now for spring you'll have nice clematis flowers and foliage on them, and once the Clematis starts to look worn in the summer the Hibiscus takes over.

Zone 6B. I loved to watch the hummingbirds and butterflies around the bush. It grows, flowers, and self-seeds too well here to be close...Read More to the house or sidewalk. I ripped all of them out and spent considerable time digging out the volunteers for months. A good application would be a distant hedge on a acreage where mowing would take care of the self seeding, and viewing them from a distance obviate dead heading and ground litter problems.The garden writer from Louisville recommends a sterile cultivar "Diana" which would avoid all the self-seeding. Do hummers like sterile shrubs? What about the rampant growth?

I love mine! They are easy to care for and the blooms are awesome. The hummingbirds really like them too!

This was a very nice surprise for me!
I got a blue hibiscus syriacus in June. It was really small, about 4 inches tall. It grew wi...Read Moreth high speed, now it's almost 2.5 feet tall, and started flowering quickly. since august, I've been enjoying its beautiful flowers. I think I have to cut it, to stimulate branching, but I'm waiting for a cooler weather. REALLY BEAUTIFUL! (trying to upload a picture as well)
I don't think mine will spread from seeds, though (does seem sterile, never formed a capsule).

I have several altheas growing here in my yard in RI. I've controlled unwanted sprouts by removing seed pods in fall before they dry and...Read More disburse seeds. Next door neighbors have not done this, however, and I've had hundreds of babies to pull up every spring from their plants. They are highly invasive, but if care is taken to control their spread, they can be very showy in mid to late summer. I have white, lavender, rose, and a darker purple. I also have a double flower plant that does not produce seed pods.

A large pink althea lived beside the house I grew up in 50 years ago in Illinois. When I was last in that town (10 years ago) the bush wa...Read Mores still alive! It required no special care.

The late leafing out (dead appearance) may be the reason it is not found commonly in the zone 5 parts of Newfoundland. I have seen it gr...Read Moreowing six ft from a house, facing south. Other than that I see it sold in stores but do not see it in gardens.... I have seedlings in 3.5" pots that I wintered outdoors, and I am still waiting on July 4 for signs of life. By comparison, the P.G. Hyrdrangeas have some leaves out on this date, and it is a cold season with Azaleas still blooming.

I have had my Rose of Sharon for about 6 years, and like it very much , flowers all summer long here in zone 6, no trouble with caring f...Read Moreor it. The Gardener

My great-grandmother had the single-blossomed shrubs in her yard in southside VA. Unable to find them @ nurseries when I moved to piedmo...Read Morent NC, I collected seeds and was very successful with transplanting. I got the seeds mixed up and the resulting plants had some beautiful markings on the blossoms. I'm an avid lover of this shrub and due to relocation I'm having to start from scratch again. I would grow a yard-full if I could as they are a constant reminder of great-grandmother!

LuvsNature

Love the flowers! Unfortunately, the deer do, too. They bite off the whole top of the bush. They're supposedly deer-resistant, but I gues...Read Mores it depends on how hungry they are. LOL

Cocoajuno, Marysville, WA

I love this plant and have just ordered 2 more. I have a 7 year old plant. It is white w/red eye...Read More. I do not have a problem with seeding or sprouting here,I wish I did as I would not have had to purchase more. Beautiful large bloom that lasts after everything else here has finished. I will save the seed for next year now.

These can be really beautiful and showy plants, but they can also be high maintenance. To keep them looking nice, you need to do some p...Read Moreruning, which should be done in early spring (not fall!!) since they bloom on this year's growth. Also, like lilacs, old weak growth inside should be pruned out to let light in. They respond well to hard pruning if they get out of control. I have 9 very large altheas of different varieties and have had good luck with all of them in Kentucky. They grow very rapidly and bloom profusely. One white variety I have is still blooming here and it's October! It has bloomed all summer and is still covered in flowers. One of mine is a "tree" althea, pruned to one main trunk. Be warned that Japanese beetles LOVE these bushes -- I have to constantly spray them during beetle time or I wouldn't have any flowers left. That's the worst thing about them. They do also seed themselves, but I've only had that happened next to one bush and I've saved all the "babies" because I have 8 acres and plenty of room for them. I put the babies into pots and kept them watered all summer and they have done very well. My husband has complained because we have two very large ones at the head of our driveway and they are quite late to leaf out and look dead, as others have commented. Therefore, I wouldn't recommend placing them where that characteristic would bother you, like right in front of your house. But if you want a show of glorious blooms throughout the summer when most other bushes are not blooming, then these are for you!

Our Rose of Sharon was planted about 6 months ago and doing pretty well. The flowers are mauve. It is planted in clay and gets sun most ...Read Moreof the day plus a blast of hot afternoon sun. It has grown from 18 inches high to about 48 inches in that time. The irrigation is from a drip system.

I've found grasshoppers on it and many leaves chewed on. It also has a white edge on the leaves that looks like maybe a soil chemical balance, not sure. I haven't fertilized it for several months.

Today I saw a hummingbird going to the petals.

I just love Rose of Sharon! Here in Athens, WV they grow all over town. They are very low maintenance, and the flowers are beautiful. ...Read More They bigger and messier they are, the better! Their wild nature just enhances their beauty. (The double flowered ones seem to be much smaller and neater though, if you don't like messy and wild.)

It may be pretty, but it self seeds and is highly invasive in my garden; except for the double variety which appears to be sterile. Very...Read More hard to prune and maintain a decent shape.

I planted bare root plants, one died the first year, one is in direct sun all day and is small and looks poor, the other is somewhat grow...Read Moreing through another srub that has spread too far and that shrub shelters it from direct sun and it is blooming and thick and healthy and much taller than the little runt. In this zone I suggest a bit of shelter from the elements.

I love the color variety and the blooms are very pretty. We just moved into a new neighborhood last summer and one of our neighbors has ...Read Morethem growing as a hedge right on the edge of our shared fence line in the backyard, which has it's pros and cons.

I agree with some of you that are less than thrilled that they take so long to even start showing green. I have also had to pull up several seedlings. If I wait to long to yank them, they can be a challenge to get out of the ground.

I did save a few 'minis' and have plant them together in a pot. This way, I can have them out of sight when they aren't worth looking at and they won't get out of control; as far as, roots and/or height.

I started my Rose of Sharon from seeds, easy to grow.. Within a few years, i had nice shrubs. They can be invasive, with seedlings poppin...Read Moreg up everywhere.

I not have this plan but is very common where i live and I think is not difficult

The Rose of Sharon is one of my very favorite garden plants! Its flowers are gorgeous. It's low-maintenance. And it doesn't grow too t...Read Moreall, so you can plant it anywhere. I just love my Rose of Sharons.

I notice some people complained about late flowering. I had that same problem for the first year or so after tranplanting the little trees. They don't seem to like to be moved, and it takes them a few years to adjust. After that, they're just stunning.

I have about 5 of these trees. I just love them.

This plant grows well in Hawai'i. The blue-flower form is most common. It is also the flower of Korea where it is called "mugunghwa" wh...Read Moreich means "flower of immortality". China used to refer to Korea as "the land of magunghwa and fine gentlemen."

I LOVE this plant!! I believe it is fairly old (taller than our house!) and thriving in part shade under the canopy of several tall cedar...Read More trees in acidic clay soil. It got its leaves in early to mid may and blooms from June through September profusely. We virtually neglect it and it consistently performs well. The only downside is the constant dropping of spent blossoms throughout the blooming season.

It is very invasive, had lots of problems with it appearing every where in my yard in virginia. Plus, they always look so dead until mid...Read More summer then they burst to life.

The bees love the plant when it blooms and the birds like to pick at the buds. But when the flowers fall off, they look kinda gross and they're slippery when it rains.

It is pretty, especially since you can get all sorts of colors on one tree - pink, purple, white, but I still think it's too much of a pain to plant.

I have 2 small ones in my yard in NY now, they seem to be behaving so far, but I'm still not sold on them.

Unbelievably irritatingly invasive. It self-seeds at a fantastic rate, and can be very hard to pull out the seedlings. Plus, it looks awf...Read Moreul three-fourths of the time.
A junk bush and a weed, as far as I'm concerned.

I have some here on my property that are over 30 years old. Mine have not spread from seed, but by suckering from the roots. Compared to ...Read Moreprivet and some others, I do not consider it invasive. The only problems with it are aphids which can easily be controlled by spraying. Mine are the all white variety. I think they are called "Diana".

Altheas do well in my garden in Houston. I can count on continous blooms from early spring until frost. Blooms are already open on March ...Read More20th. They are bothered by spider mites in really dry weather. I'm using a systemic inscetcide on them this year and will see how that goes. The new BLUE SATIN variety in not blue here, but more purple with a maroon throat. A disappointment as I was looking for a large flowered blue shrub.

One of my favorite plants here in central MS. One of the very last things to leaf out in the spring but grows well thereafter. I have se...Read Moreveral varieties, single and double. The single varieties that I have(I don't think they are of the goddess series) should self-sow, but that doesn't seem to be a big issue around here. One very nice thing about it is that it is not fussy about soils(we have lots of clay) except that it is susceptible to root rot so needs to have some winter drainage, and it seems to be quite drought tolerant. I rarely have to provide supplemental water to established plants. The bloom period is very long and the plants are in bloom often in the late summer when everything in the garden seems "tired" and I'm tired and don't feel like gardening much. Also will bloom okay in partial shade, though even here, the more sun the better.

too invasive -- I spent too much time pulling up new tiny trees all over my yard. I cut mine down

I have this plant growing back of the border in part shade and it does very well! I would recomend it. This year I want to try pruning it...Read More back to see if I can get bigger flowers :)

I had 2 purple Rose of Sharons that I dug out of my fence line as saplings, then transplanted to my huge western yard. they were gorgeou...Read Mores, and bloomed July through September every year. They were so beautiful that I didn't mind the daily clean-up of the fallen blooms, but the self-seeding nature was a pain. I finally, after 3 or 4 years, cut off every seed pod in the fall, to prevent re-seeding! I pruned the trees each year to a height of about 8 feet, with a nice symmetrical form. I lost them both after about 15 years, for no apparent reason. Do you think the yearly pruning could have had anything to do with this? There never appeared to be any infestation of any sort! Note that I pruned in early fall, when I took off seed pods. Any comments?
Deanna

This is a beautiful shrub that blooms over a long season, though it does take a long time to break dormancy in spring. My information sa...Read Moreys it is hardy in zones 5-10. Prune in spring and deahead, or blooms or flower size will diminish.

This plant is grown successfully all over the Northern & Piedmont areas of Virginia - to the point of serious overuse in the landscape, t...Read Morehus my "neutral" rating.

I personally find it a rather unattractive-looking tree/shrub except while flowering, which occurs in late summer. The flowers do attract both hummingbirds & sphinx moths.

I have 5 growing in zone4a UP of Michigan. Bloom very late
mid summer but i love them!!!

This plant takes forever to leaf out and longer to flower - just before it is too cold for it in the fall. I gave mine away.

I am having a problem with speckled white, red and brown teent tiny bugs on my purple Rose of Sharon Tree, there are tiny red eggs as wel...Read Morel as microscopic tiny black dots on underside of leaves. These bugs appear on unopened buds and it looks like they are inhibiting them from opening fully. What could these bugs be and how do I rid the tree of them? This may be an obvious anwser, but i'm new to gardening and don't know what to do about the.

I have had problems with pests on my rose of sharons. Earlier in the summer, the Japanese Beetles were having a blast eating the develop...Read Moreing blooms. Right now, there is a brown spot all over the buds and leaves ( a fungus?) with a pest I have never seen before. I have tried to get rid of them, but to no avail. The pest is sort of speckled white and red and brown (shaped like a stink bug) and there is tiny red eggs? or mites? on the buds as well. I have tried to find out by searching online, but have found no answer. They are inhibiting the blooming and appear to be killing the plant. Any ideas?

A beautiful shrub with Hollyhock-type blossoms which
will always have a place in my garden. Unwanted sprouts grown from seeds dro...Read Morepped can be pulled out or mowed down with ease, or deadheaded on a regular basis.
Even better, allow them to sprout and then share with friends and neighbors.

Not for the fussy gardener, but an old fashioned delight
for those who wish to have a multi-purpose plant in their yard.

Prune the shrubs in a tree shape or allow them to sprawl, or cut them back into hedge shapes. Pruned plants produce larger bloom size.

It may be pretty, but it self seeds and is highly invasive in gardens on Long Island. No thanks!

I LOVE this plant & it's blooms..... have been wondering about how to get more going, as my neighbor would like to plant a row of them. I...Read More'd also like to know how to start pruning it to look like a tree/topiary!!! If ANYONE had any info or ideas, please e-mail me at [email protected] .
I see you are able to start some from cuttings & seeds....... am wondering where the seeds come on the plant as opposed to the blossoms?? Any help out there?? Thanks in advance......

Well, I'm from Eastern Canada zone 5 . I have been gardening for 10 years now. Along the way I received my 'Rose of Sharon'. I have yet t...Read Moreo see it bloom and it has never exceeded 21/2 - 3 feet. Healthy in every other way so, I wonder what can I do to encourage growth and especially flowering. I have moved it's location 3 times now and it is currently in a large gardening barrell, sitting pretty on my sunny deck.

I'll say mostly positive. Every spring I say I hate it when I am pulling up the hundreds of seedlings from my beds, but when it starts t...Read Moreo bloom, you can't help but admire it. Mine is huge and came with the farm when we bought it 8 yrs ago. It looks old. I keep it pruned back some but it is still 10+ feet tall. It is the lavender one with a reddish eye. The other bad thing about it is that the Jap. Beetles and June Bugs LOVE this plant. The bees love it too and I even saw a humming bird feeding from it this week. I have a white one with a maroon eye that I dug up from our field a couple of summers ago.

I also have a mauveish/rose colored one that tried to come up thru my fence for years. I kept it cut down and forgot it one year and it grew and bloom with beautifully colored flowers, I am now trying to prop. by cuttings. I don't know where this one came from unless it's a cross from the lavender one and a white one that was growing in the field. The beetles don't seem to bother it, maybe their too busy with the other two.

I work for the Sacramento City Zoo and we Have the Rose of
sharon in various locations in the zoo.The purple is my favorite.I am ...Read Morecurrently growing two whites from a seed pod
for my own garden and waiting for the purple to pod for more
seed.

my grandmother had this bush outside her bedroom door which was on the side of the house. She used it as a switch bush for us and believ...Read Moree me, it was a very hardy bush for her here in dallas texas.

I have planted two rose of sharon one white and one pink in my beautifully landscaped front yard. We live on a fairly quiet street, but ...Read Morethere are many passersby walking dogs and coming home from work.

In my opinion, the Rose of Sharon shrub is an eyesore until it finally gets leaves in late spring/early summer (Zone 6). The location of my shrubs are in my front lawn and they look dead. I have to explain their appearance to those who wonder when I'm going to remove the "dead" tree from my lawn. It's kind of embarrassing.

A few people have said "But when they finally bloom it's worth the wait". This may be true, but to have two 5 foot shrubs in dormancy until early summer is not attractive in my front garden. I think I'll move them to the back yard, and replace them with a shrub that "comes alive" in spring with the rest of the landscape.

These little trees or large shrubs are quite common where I am (Alabama) and have nice flowers like hibiscus. I find their growth rate go...Read Moreod but they are very invasive and seedlings turn up everywhere! I got three from a relative's back yard. Sometimes I have heard them called Syrian hibiscus.

Easy to grow in this area and especially nice when trained to a single trunk.

I like the single trunk form, but lots of fo...Read Morelk around here like them planted close together for a hedge effect.

Both forms do great. Altheas like lots of sunlight and bloom here around the first of June with repeats all summer.

We have a Rose of Sharon in our back yard; it is over fifty years old. I know this because we have owned our place for forty years now a...Read Morend it was well established when we bought it. The tree has purple flowers on it and we have actually started another tree from seed. I think it is beautiful and as far as we know it is the only one around here. We live in the far northern part of California, approximately 100 miles from the Oregon border and 50 miles inland from the coast. For a long time we didn't know the name of the tree and no nursery around Eureka was able to help us out. Thank you for your database site.

I see all the notes from folks in other parts of the U.S. who are growing Rose of Sharon Hibiscus (Hibiscii ?). Well I am trying to grow ...Read Moreone in CA. On the edge of the desert. I did some research to come up with this particular type and stuck it in the ground last fall. It has made it through a high desert winter, (dry with desicating winds). I had put one in the year before and it deceased. So now I'm carefully tending this one and it is doing well. About two feet tall at this time and the leaves are a healthy dark green and strong.
Don't know for sure the flower color, just as long as it's not white. I like vibrant colors in my garden.

They root well from cuttings...I have several in one gallon pots. Mine are blooming beautifully.

I just bought a house that has several very large specimens of the double pink variety. They are on the West side of a South facing hous...Read Moree, so they don't get full sun until 1 PM or later. They were the last item in the yard to leaf out. They have started blooming in the past several weeks. I haven't given them any additional water or fertilizer. They have dark and light pink double flowers. The bushes are 12'-15' tall. They are covered with blooms top to bottom.

San Antonio, Tz
Be careful to not over water especially if it is planted in a heavy clay soil because it is susceptible to root ro...Read Moret. I lost several because I thought they needed water when the leaves yellowed. Now, I very seldom provide supplemental water and they do fine. They will become spindly and/or will not bloom if they do not receive enough sunlight. I especially like the double lavemdar and the single white with maroon center ones which seem to bloom better than the others (at least for me).

Pretty plant, easy to grow, large enough to be used as a small shrub, but small enough to be included in the back of the perennial garde...Read Moren. Pratically fool-proof to grow and comes in a range of colors and patterns, (flowers), including a near-true blue! (I garden in the Mid-Atlantic).

My sister, who lives in Centereach, NY, sent me two of these. (She did so because she didn't like it any more as it was too invasive.) Th...Read Moree speed of growth was excellent, but it seemed to take forever to bloom. My patience brought me luck; one did bloom for me (finally). The flower was beautiful and because of that, I don't care if it becomes invasive!!

I've noticed as it is getting cold that the rabbits like my Althea branches.

My mother-in-law gave me two plants about 5 years ago. They were about 2ft tall, and now are 20 ft tall. And I now have over 250 plants...Read More from these two trees. They are very easy to grow. The seeds fall to the ground, or the wind blows them when they fall, and before you know it, you've got more plants. You will have enough to share with everyone. Very hardy trees/shubs, pruning is easy to remember...on Valentines Day. Very beautiful plant and so easy to keep up. When all else is dying, these plants are blooming beautifully!

Howdy folks. This is one of the easiest and most rewarding plants you could ask for. It easily propagates by seed. We have hedges of t...Read Morehem. What a great plant for those of you who would like to get a fast-growing showpiece/hedge. If you know someone who grows these I'm sure they'll be more that willing to share. The seeds readily drop to the ground and easily send up young plants in the spring. These don't even need to be dug out, just grab hold of them and pull. They will easily come up so grab as many as you are allowed. When you get them home you'll find they root very easily; so easily in fact that many folks just take a large screwdriver (or something similar) and poke a hole in the ground, wallow it out, insert the young plant, water it, and stomp it down. If you keep it moist for a wk you'll have excellent success. Truly a low-maintenance plant from day one!

This shrub can be stooled to maintain compact growth. They come in a large variety of colors and bi-colors; some are single and others d...Read Moreouble. Doubles tend to be sterile, resulting in no unwanted seedlings. Newer hybrids are self-cleaning.

Full sun is required for best bloom, but will grow well in part to full shade. Some of the newer cultivars have variegated foliage.

I am in zone 4 and it has done great with loads of flower in mid to late summer.

Hibiscus syriacus is a deciduous small tree, doing quite well as a garden plant as far north as USDA Zone 5 or higher (if near a coast).

This shrub is deciduous in Zone 7. It does not leaf-out until late spring - early summer making it easy to forget it is there. However; t...Read Morehe long blooming season provides a profusion of bright reminders of why you want to add it to your landscape. The majority of varieties are NOT self-cleaning and you need to remove dead blooms to encourage and prolong the blooming season.

A shrub or small tree, with numerous upright branches, Althea reaches 8-12' tall and 6-8' wide. It is valuable for late-season flowers. ...Read MoreUse in groupings, masses, shrub borders or hedges.

Flowers are single or double, white to red or purple or violet, or combinations, 2 to 4" across. Usually blooms July through September, depending on zone. Flowers are produced on new growth. Grows in about any soil except those that are extremely wet or dry. It does best in moist well-drained soils that are supplemented with peat moss, leaf mold or compost. Prefers hot weather; prune heavily in early spring, or prune back to 2 to 3 buds in spring to get large flowers.