Rose of sharon plant is a shrub prized for the size of its flowers, long blooming period and striking cylindrical growth habit (due to this growth habit rose of sharon can, in fact, be pruned so as to resemble a small tree). For a succinct introduction to growing the plant, see my rose of sharon article. In that article and in my flowering shrub gallery, you can see rose of sharon pictures.
Note on the Comments section below for rose of sharon: As of 6/17/2008, 50 comments have been posted, and that's a good cut-off figure (it's getting too unwieldy). No further questions on rose of sharon will be answered in the Comments section; instead, please post any questions in the Landscaping forum.
Comments
i love the rose of but as a senior citizen i have to plan carefully where i spend my money can anyone tellme how i cn take cuttings from the rose of sharon bush thank billy
my sister’s friend has a yard full of these and she pulled up some off the main bush, she made sure they had roots, and gave my sister a bunch who in turn gave me some. I’ve planted it and can’t wait for the blooms. Question though, my sis’ friend said it can take up to 10 yrs for some to bloom, is that right????
Claudia,
Depends on the conditions (sun, water, soil composition, etc.). Even the specific type of rose of sharon could make a difference in how long you have to wait for blooming.
I have several Rose of Sharon that I have had for several years. It does NOT take a long time for them to bloom. Basically they will bloom as soon as they get a little size to them, I have had some that were only a couple of feet tall bloom like crazy. As far as wanting new ones, there is two ways to do it. I have done both and they both work wonderfully. Either dig up a new one that has grown close to the original one or wait till fall when the flowers are done and cut the ends off with the seeds. I have topped mine and just laid the ends with the seeds in a pile and the next year they are growing new plants. Just remember do not mow there or your cutting off your new plants. By the end of the season you will see plants a foot or two tall, by the next year you will have blooms.
I have a little rose plant that had no leaves and i wanted to save it what can i do it’s just going away and i cant seem to stop it from dieing.
I have lots of rose of Sharon in my yard. They are beautiful as well as bug and desease free. To probigate, I just pull a smaller whole plant up and
give to a friend to plant. Roots must be on the plant.
i have one and it does not seem to grow, have had it for two years. is there anythin g i can do to help it.
Fertilize the rose of sharon and water it thoroughly when its soil is dry. If you don’t currently have your rose of sharon in a sunny area, transplant it to such an area.
I’d like to plant one but will not be around to water it much this summer. Should I wait and plant one in the fall? Will they still be available at garden centers then?
Definitely wait till fall. Not only might they still be available at garden centers then, but they might be at a discount then. Fall is also a better time to plant them.
Help! Our rose of sharon is dying. We bought out house last year and the sharon was a big reason why. Can we save it?
I’ve experienced rose of sharon dying through a fungal infection. See if you can find any fungus on the plants. Maybe if you catch it soon enough, you can stop the spread (although that’s perhaps unlikely). If you do see fungus, go to a garden center, tell them your problem, and hopefully they can recommend a fungicide for you.
Help! Something is eating my Rose of Sharon. What do you think it can be? The branches are broken off and it’s just a stump. I almost couldn’t find it. Thanks for your time. Looking forward to hearing from you. Sharon
It’s possible that deer chewed it down. All you can do now is wait till next year and see if it comes back. In the meantime, perhaps consider substituting with deer-resistant plants.
My boyfriend just gave me 4 rose of sharons in different sizes they are tall and slim looking more like very young trees not a bush. I,m hoping they will bush out if I can keep them alive . Its been 3 days since I planted them and they are wilted.The flowers of the larger ones have all fallen off. I do not have a green thumb but I fell in love whith them. I was told they were an easy bush. Ive done all of what I was told they are in a sunny area and I water every day.Please help I would hate for them to die. Thank you
Hard to diagnose specific plant problems without being there, but with young plants, there’s always the possibility that they’re just stressed out. No way to tell, though, till you give it some time. Fortunately, unless you live in the desert, there can’t be that much hot weather left. When the weather cools off, the plants may pick up.
I planted a few of these young plants they are all dying. The branches look fine but the flowers have all died the leaves are brown not hard but limp and lifeless could you tell me will these plants come back or are they gone should I pull off the dead leaves or just pull up the whole plant and start over. Any advice would be great. Thank you
Check for an insect infestation, and treat accordingly, if you find one (tell someone at a garden center what the insect looks like, so that they can recommend a treatment). Otherwise, this late in the season, I’d just wait till next year and see how it looks in spring.
My Rose of Sharon had very few leaves this year and did not bloom. It is in a sunny spot and we had very little rain. I don’t see any bugs or fungus. Any suggestions about what I can do now to help it grow better next year? We live in CT.
If buds were present but didn’t open, there are many possible reasons for their failure to do so. One possible reason is drought: during dry summers, rose of sharon flower buds may be damaged from drought and fail to open.
If you didn’t even get any buds, you may have a nutrient deficiency in the soil where you planted it. Send in a soil sample to your cooperative extension (nearest university to you) to have the soil tested.
I recently took 3 Rose of Sharons from my niece. She leaves in Southern Ontario and I live in Northern Ontario. I planted them 3 days ago, they seem fine, we did get alot of rain. Do you think they will survive the winter, we are in a zone 4
The best thing you can do at this point is water (but don’t over-water) them on a regular basis. A good fall watering regimen helps plants make it through the winter, all else being equal.
How do I get more plantings from my current rose of sharon bush/tree? I got mine from someone who said she has tons in her yard tht she started from plantings but I can’t figure out how to do that and my friend has since moved out of the country….
You can propagate rose of sharon via cuttings. Here are instructions for taking cuttings for rose of sharon.
I was thinking about plaanting some Rose Of Sharons along the fence along my neighbor’s yard. It’s a solid, 10 foot fence, and I would be planting them on the North side of it. My yard is very sunny, but there is some shadow from that fence, esp. in AM. Do you think the ROS would be a good choice? Would it get enough sun? I should say I also have a tomato garden along the same fence in summer, and it always does well. Also, will I have to dead-head the ROS?
Wouldn’t be my first choice as a place to plant rose of sharon. But it wouldn’t be my first choice for tomatoes, either — yet you say they’ve done well there.
I’ve heard of people deadheading rose of sharon mainly to suppress “volunteer” seedlings for the following year.
A friend gave me a Christmas present called A Gift of Seed. In it she had different flower seeds from her garden. I have been looking up the different seeds to check on the best way to start them and the conditions they like. One of the packets of seeds said Rose of Sharon everything I find on it says it is a bush. I was wondering if it is possible to start Rose of Sharon from a seed, and if so what would be the best way to do that? Any help would be appreciated.
If rose of sharon seed is, indeed, what you have, then you shouldn’t have to go to much trouble. Rose of sharon naturally reseeds outside — pretty readily. So if you just sow the seed outside in spring, your chances of success are good, as long as the seed is viable.
For all that got ROS plants and ran out and planted them, just remember when you get nursery grown plants you have to harden them off first. Meaning you have to gradually introduce them to the outdoor weather, it usually takes about a week, starting with 2 hours outside and moving it indoors for the night and gradually work them outside permanently.
happy planting,
Ali
I want to plant ROS as a privacy hedge how far apart should they be planted?
I’d say to space them about 6 feet apart for a hedge.
Can the Ros have too much sun? I water and about afternoon my leaves are wilted, but then late afternoon perk back up? Was thinking, maybe too much wind????
Young plants (even good sun plants, which rose of sharon are) will sometimes temporarily suffer from a pounding from the sun or wind. Once they become established, this usually isn’t a problem.
I would like to know more about pruning my ROS. Do I cut off the ugly brown pods or should I leave them. I’ve tried both ways and it seems that when I leave the pods on I don’t get as many blossoms. I’m not sure if it was just a fluke. thanks
>”I’m not sure if it was just a fluke.”
Based on my experience, yes, it was a fluke. With my rose of sharon, it’s never made any difference whether I prune those off or not.
Can anyone tell me how to stop Rose Of Sharon from growing? I have some that were allowed to grow fairly large next to/under a fence. They are destroying the fence. Anyone?
Pam
When you say “stop Rose Of Sharon from growing,” I can interpret that 2 ways, so I’ll briefly address both. If you mean stop it forever, you could use an herbicide (for woody plants) on the rose of sharon — that will kill it. It if you mean stop it from getting so big, you’d just have to keep pruning back the rose of sharon — just make cuts where you feel the plant doesn’t belong.
Thank you David. I want to kill it, I know that sounds harsh, but it’s growing where it shouldn’t be. I was hoping it had a natural enemy of some sort, but a herbicide is fine. Thanks again.
Pam
I have a rather large ROS at the back corner of my house, and when I say at the corner I mean up against the concrete slab lol. I want to move it, I dont like where it is at, It can never be seen unless the backdoor is open and being in SE Texas we dont have many days that we can leave the door open. Is there a way that I can move it without killing it or stressing it to much? I have had the house for about 11 years and have never done anything to it, it needs to be in an area that it can get the needed attention ( out of site out of mind) The tree is fairly tall ( 15 ft maybe? Not good at judging height) and very spindly due to never being trimmed/pruned altho it does get huge amounts of flowers on it.
Thanks for your advice in advance.
Therese
Therese,
Please consult this article on the proper way to transplant trees:
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/shrubsbushes/ht/transplanting.htm
Hi –
I have ROS in my yard that were transplanted from my mother’s yard a few years ago. They are all growing and blooming. This spring I noticed one side of the row of ROS have brown, dry looking pods. Are these seeds? If not what are they and what should I do?
Thanks for the help
Yes, that’s leftover seed pod. Most people just let leftover rose of sharon seed pods fall off on their own in the spring — no need to remove them.
Hi,
I moved into a house last year with 3 established beautiful Rose of Sharon. They brought me so much joy last summer. This spring only 2 of them are bearing leaves. The middle one is bare as a bone. They all receive the same amount of sun and are in the same area of the yard. The “trees” are about 10 to 15 feet tall so I would hate to lose them.
Any thoughts?
Thanks so much
Without any more information to go on, let me just throw this out to you. Rose of sharon is subject to fungal infection. See if you can find any fungus on the bushes. Maybe if you catch the infection soon enough, you can stop its spread. A fungicide may be available at your garden center, where you could also describe the problem with your rose of sharon (perhaps provide a photo) to get further input.
Don’t put too much stock in the fact that the other two rose of sharons appear unaffected. Plants are funny: some are just healthier to begin with and won’t succumb to the same problem that a neighboring plant (same type, and ostensibly the same in every other way) is dying from.
I have a small rose of sharon in the front yard of my house. Some animal is bitting off the lower branches. We live in a rural area of it could be anything. Please help SOON……
Drive 4 poles into the ground around your rose of sharon. Buy some chicken wire or mesh fencing and tie/staple this fencing to the posts.
We purchased a Rose of Sharon about a month ago. We planted it in full sun. Now the leaves are turning yellow and falling off. Its getting pretty bare? Should we move it to a shaded area? We are in Zone 8 and the temperature highs have been in the 90s here in Llano County, Texas and we have been giving it plenty of water. Can you help us?? Thanks — Jim Knight
Except when we’re talking about fall foliage, yellowing leaves on rose of sharon (or most plants, for that matter) often indicate too much water and/or poor drainage. So the “plenty of water” you mention giving your rose of sharon may actually be too much. If it’s drainage that’s the problem, you may want to consider transplanting it in late fall to a spot where you can furnish better drainage.
Our trees appear very twiggy. My husband just chopped off the tops of them so as not to block a window. Im afraid he has not pruned correctly
Rose of sharon is pretty amenable to pruning, so I wouldn’t be too worried that any real damage has been done to the shrub. Give it a little time.
Is there any easy way (ex. Roundup) to kill Rose of Sharon seedlings without damaging the bushes? The bushes are very healthy and established–they were about 7 or 8 feet tall until I hacked them to about 4 feet. The seedlings are EVERYWHERE! I spend an entire day weeding, but they’re still coming up. I plan on deadheading from now on, but what can I do to get rid of the seedlings now? I tried Roundup, but it didn’t seem to work–do I need to really soak them with it?
You could “paint” an application of something like Ortho’s woody plant herbicide onto the rose of sharon seedlings. I say “paint” to emphasize that you don’t want any errant spray landing on the rose of sharon shrubs themselves (it would harm them). Note, however, that such a method is not really easier than simply weeding. The only other method I could mention is smothering with a tarp, but that’s not an option if this germinating activity is happening on a lawn (the tarp would smother the lawn, too).
I just got my ros today without any instructions on how to plant it, how deep any fertlizer? please help. thank you
joyce
Please read my article on shrub transplanting to learn how to plant rose of sharon or any other shrub. Personally, I use compost to fertilize plants and wouldn’t chance using a chemical fertilizer upon planting (too much can burn a young plant).
Hi
I have a 4 year old rose of sharon. Every year it blooms wonderfully. This year, only about 50% of the branches have leaves on them, the others are completely bare. What can I do?
Hi Karen,
Please post your rose of sharon question in the Landscaping forum, as per the note above in this blog post.
help! i was cleaning my moms yard up and cut her sharon of rose down it was small i thought it was a seedling from the tree near her home i had been pulling seedling and cutting ones i couldnt pull do i owe her a new one or will it come back the roots are still there
Hi Denise,
Please post your rose of sharon question in the Landscaping forum, as per the note above in this blog post.
I have a beautiful Rose of Sharon which is full of flowers, but the weight of the flowers has bent over to the point almost touching the ground. How should I prune it?
Hi Tom,
As you can see from my most recent responses above, rose of sharon questions are now being answered in the Landscaping forum, rather than here in the Comments section.
A friend gave me some rose of sharon SEEDS,will they root in side until I’m ready to transplant them out side?
Brian,
I’ve never tried to germinate rose of sharon seeds inside, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you were successful in your venture: they’re certainly prolific outside! Keep the rooting soil evenly moist and provide adequate heat.
Hi,
I have ROS and last yr had an infest of lil’ black bugs..Already this yr they have taken over ALL my ROS…they seem to be on the leaf and its shaft..what should I do??
Thanx
for 35 years I’ve had a ROS fence along my driveway and front yard. Yesterday I bought two colors new to me: very pale blue and a deep plum. My favorite is a white that gets (yes I measured them) flowers about 6.5″.To me the ROS should be welcomed in every yard….m
PS If someone needs any I carefully lift the little seedlings for them.
margy, last year my home was destroyed by a fire. it was so intense it also burned my rose of sharon in front of my house. believe it or not after a spring of dried out sticks for what use to be a beautiful bush i desided to cut it back as far as i could opposed to digging it up. almost overnight new sprigs started popping up all around it. i was even shocked to get 3 flowers. not very big as the plants are only a foot or less high. i must admit i am now a huge fan and would love to plant more in diffrent shades. you mentioned you had seeds would you like to pass some on and have you started from seed in the past. thank you michelle
hi there i need help.. i got a small rose of sharon given to me by the grandmother that lives in RI..i brought it back home to ME and it hasnt done anything since i brought it back.. had some leaves last year but this year nothing.. the branchs dont’ look died still strong.. what can i do to help it.. i put some organic fertilizer on it and some peat moss and new soil.. it get sun have the day and shade the other half.. we have very sandy soil. help!
Rebecka,
The only thing that concerns me in what you said is that the rose of sharon gets sun half the day. Rose of sharon is really a full-sun plant. I’d transplant it in late fall to a location fully in the sun.
Melissa,
Sounds like you have aphids on your rose of sharon. You can control aphids by spraying with neem oil.
can you change the color of a white rose of sharon
Tina,
As far as I know, you can’t change the color of a rose of sharon flower.
Is a rose of sharon tree different from the hedge or is it just how it’s pruned?
Hi Joanna,
A rose of sharon hedge is just pruned.
Have had purple and pink Rose of Sharon in our yard for 27 years and have a hedge now. We get hundreds of babies from seed pods every year. (we throw the seed onto dirt after we prune and we get many more every year) The original 12 shrubs came to us as basically 12″ “sticks” and they all grew. Also now the “great grandbaby plants” are now throwing some white ones. Hummingbirds love them as well as the bees.
Just wanted to share this–today in the south I planted 42 batches (of 5-7 small plants each as we find they branch out thicker that way for better hedge) of 2 year old plants to make another hedge area.
I have a large Rose of Sharon. It is in a sunny location. So far this season it has not leafed. It is now the middle of July. Is it dead or is there still hope?
This rose of sharon question has been answered in the Landscaping Forum.
HI, I am wondering if I cut off a stem from Rose of Sharon, put it in water for awhile, to let it grow some roots, can it be planted in yard to grow? Please respond/
Sharon,
You can make a small hole in the ground with a tool such as a long handled screwdriver and then place the stem in this hole. tamp the dirt around it and keep it moist. It should take root in a very short time.
Note: bunnies and deer both love to nibble on it, so if you are in a rural area, you should probably put some fencing around it.
Happy planting
Is there such a thing as a “weeping” ROS? I bought three ROS’s two years ago, and they’re all doing very well, but one of them got to about five feet tall and then its branches started to look more like a Weeping Willow. They now touch the ground, lots of flowers on them. Just beautiful. The other two are upright. What have I got? Thanks.
No Jane, sorry I haven’t heard of a weeping rose of sharon. By the way, did you ask about weeping rose of sharon at GardenWeb and HelpfulGardener? Someone posted pictures of a reputed weeping rose of sharon on those 2 websites.
I have had a rose of sharon for approximately 15 years, now it looks like it is dieing, what is the life span of this bush.//Thank you
Carol,
Rose of sharon can go into decline and eventually die due to fungal infection. If the base of your plant is obscured (by other vegetation, etc.), you could easily fail to see the fungus. Check for fungus at the base of your rose of sharon. If you detect the fungus soon enough, perhaps there’s some chance of stopping the spread. If you do find fungus growing, mention at your local garden center that your plant has a fungus on it, and hopefully they can recommend a fungicide for you.
I transplanted a rose of sharon tree and now the leaves are turning yellow and they are droopy??? What is going on?
Thanks
Kathy it sound like your plant is stressed. Water it regularly when it is hot or dry. These trees should be planted in the spring or fall for best results. I have over 200 rose of sharon trees and they do well almost unattended just watered.
I have a small plant starting to grow in a container. Will it continue to grow inside over the winter or should it be left outside. I am in Algoma Ontario
Bob,
Personally, I would take the chance and leave my small rose of sharon plant outside.