ROSE OF SHARON

bygone beauty

Below:  None of the rose of sharon shrubs below were sterile.  All were grown from a renegade alley shrub's seeds.  As you see, one shrub produces offspring with varied colors.  I searched online for fertile rose of sharon plants closely matching the flowers shown.  I found two fitting cultivar names: white 'Red Heart' and mauve-ish 'Blue Bird' (next to last).  Good luck buying old fashioned, seed heavy rose of sharon shrubs in the US; sterility is preferred.  A European online nursery sells  'Red Heart' and 'Blue Bird'.

PROLIFIC BLOOMS

& seeds galore

I admired rose of sharon flowers.  But I didn't yearn for the flowers.  I yearned for a vertical planting behind the rugosa roses.  I wished I'd grown them sooner.  Blooms were astonishing, abundant and pollen heavy.  Too much pollen for carpenter bees to ignore (see video above).  Massive numbers of seeds were inevitable.

Something must eat all those seeds.  Otherwise, it's an energy drain.  I never noticed birds or beasts (not even deer) munching on the seeds.  An inconclusive internet search claims goldfinches, cardinals and wrens eat the seeds.  Others insist hummingbirds love rose of sharon flowers without providing reasons.  To my knowledge, rose of sharon flowers aren't a nectar source.  Hummingbirds do eat insects; it's possible they visit shrubs suffering from beetle, aphid or spider mite infestations.  

But what eats the seeds?!  Seed bugs aka Niestherea Louisianica if you garden in the southeast United States, according to garden expert Walter Reeves.  The insects provide pest control without harming plants.  Another good reason to know your insects; they aren't all pests.

GROWING ROSE OF SHARON

Like 80% of my plants, I grew rose of sharon from seeds.  I pinched a dried seed pod from a shrub in a neighborhood alley.  I was curious.  How long would it take for a seed grown shrub to bloom?

Since seeds hang on the shrub through winter, I sowed collected seeds in early March.  My technique?   Direct sowing: the favorite method of a lazy, greedy gardener.  With a pick axe, I made a long, shallow trench in clay soil where I wanted the shrubs to grow.  I sowed seeds about two inches, covered and lightly watered.  Then left the rest to nature.  

Seedlings germinated and grown in such conditions need minimal coddling.  That's my experience with direct sowing.  And that's why I love it.

I selected three strong seedlings to grow in place.   I watched over them.  But I didn't feed, water or protect the seedlings.  It was a tough love experiment.  In three years, they flowered.

The trio flourished.  Tenaciously, seeds I didn't sow germinated under a healthy (and aggressive) prunella planting.  I transplanted three seedlings to a hosta bed and composted the rest.   That generation produced the coveted white flowered shrub.

A white flowered seedling was the offspring of pink flowered shrubs.  So don't assume seedlings will have the same traits as its parent.   I never tried propagating rose of sharon from cuttings (I think I would've if I didn't move).  If the flower's color enchant you, take cuttings from a non-trademarked shrub. 

IT'S NOT DEAD.  IT GROWS AT ITS OWN PACE.

"Are those dead?''  A fair question to ask of a five foot tall bare shrub in May.  Rose of Sharon is the bare shrub in question.  A strike against it?   Well.  Many plants leaf out before May; the same plants are done with whatever they do by May.  Why hold rose of sharon's mid spring bareness against it?  I mean, it begins flowering when most gardens are spent and continues flowering as leaves change color.  I'm not persuading anyone.  Grow it... or don't.

Rose of Sharon shrubs are hardy and easygoing, adapting well to poor soil, heat and drought.  They're not disease or pest prone.  In zone 7a, siting shrubs in partial shade is best.  My shrubs thrived in morning sun and afternoon shade. 

Rose of Sharon flowers on new growth.  Prune it in late winter or early spring.  This encourages branching and more flowers (thus more seeds).  Some guides suggest hard pruning every spring.  I discourage removing more than a third of any plant.  Insufficient foliage for photosynthesis may stress a plant and compromise its health. 

When I made daily garden rounds, I'd remove some green seed pods to prolong flowering.  I liked the green and dried seed pods in floral arrangements.

STUNNING FLOWERS

but are they vase worthy?

I'm sorry.  I don't remember rose of sharon flowers' vase life.  I write this plant profile more than a decade after the photos were taken.   And I didn't keep photography notes.  Though I grew many flowering plants, I didn't grow any specifically for floral arrangements.   Vase life wasn't a concern.  

All I can say is... rose of sharon flowers are photogenic.  

Why Grow Rose of Sharon?

• fast growing shrub fills in spaces

• shrub grows easily from seeds (maybe too easily)

• large, elegant flowers

• blooms abundantly from July through September in Zone 7a

• attracts pollinating and beneficial insects

• disease resistant and drought tolerant once established

• possibly deer resistant