PlantFiles: Rose of Sharon, Althea
Hibiscus syriacus

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. Use 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.

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; the 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.

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).

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

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 double. 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.

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 them. 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!

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 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!

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

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.) The 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!!

The "single" blossom of the Althea is IMHO much more attractive than the "double" rose like blossom of the Rose of Sharon. The sunnier the bushier. Easy to grow in rich garden soil, but is very sensitive harder clays.

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 garden. 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).

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 rot. 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).

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 house, 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.

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

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 one 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.

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 and 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.

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

I like the single trunk form, but lots of folk 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.

These little trees or large shrubs are quite common where I am (Alabama) and have nice flowers like hibiscus. I find their growth rate good 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.

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 there 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.

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 believe me, it was a very hardy bush for her here in dallas texas.

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 currently growing two whites from a seed pod
for my own garden and waiting for the purple to pod for more
seed.

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 to 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.

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 to 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 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'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 [e-mail:vkroeze2@mchsi.com] .
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......

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

A beautiful shrub with Hollyhock-type blossoms which
will always have a place in my garden. Unwanted sprouts grown from seeds dropped 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.

I have had problems with pests on my rose of sharons. Earlier in the summer, the Japanese Beetles were having a blast eating the developing 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?

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 well 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.

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

This plant is grown successfully all over the Northern & Piedmont areas of Virginia - to the point of serious overuse in the landscape, thus 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.

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 says it is hardy in zones 5-10. Prune in spring and deahead, or blooms or flower size will diminish.

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 gorgeous, 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

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 back to see if I can get bigger flowers :)

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

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 several 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.

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 20th. 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.

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 privet 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".

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

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 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.

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 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.

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" which means "flower of immortality". China used to refer to Korea as "the land of magunghwa and fine gentlemen."

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 tall, 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.

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

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 popping up everywhere.

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 them 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 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 growing 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.

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 hard to prune and maintain a decent shape.

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. 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.)

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 of 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.

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 pruning, 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!

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. 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.

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

My great-grandmother had the single-blossomed shrubs in her yard in southside VA. Unable to find them @ nurseries when I moved to piedmont 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

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 for it. The Gardener

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 growing 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.

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 was still alive! It required no special care.

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 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.

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

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 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?

Hibiscus Syriacus is great bush for me in Zone 5A. Blooms are tropical looking (Single flowered hisbiscus') and come later in the season. 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.

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 branches 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."

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-gum 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 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 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.