Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Rose of Sharon


I have saw so many beautiful Rose of Sharon
bushes or trees lately. There are so many varieties
now and many more colors.
Mine were grown from seeds taken from my
Grandmother's bushes so I am a little sentimental
about the ones I have growing.They also bring back
memories of when my cousins and I were little and
grandma would give us toothpicks and we would
make little dolls from them. Farm kids found simple
and cheap ways to keep occupied --way-- back then ;-)



Since I wrote a posting on it last year I won't bore
anyone now with repeating it.





They were later this season because of the cool
summer and I was hoping that the Japanese beetles
wouldn't find them but they did so they have a few
riddled leaves on them.




At one time I had a line of them in front of my porch
that was kept trimmed as a hedge. Like all gardeners
I got bored at looking at that and cut them down to make
room for, of course more flowers.




Rose of Sharon Hibiscus Syriacus is a very easy shrub
to grow. It does well in zones 5 to 10 and is evergreen
in warm climates. Here in the north the leaves turn
yellow and fall off after a frost so the fall foliage on
them is not a pretty sight.




The Rose Of Sharon loves full sun but I have some spindly
ones blooming down near the woods where trimmings were
dumped. They have seed pods with many seeds in them.
They can be considered a little invasive because of so many
seeds. I have to pull them from flower beds and from around
bushes every spring.
I trim mine back heavily in the fall to keep it a smaller
compact shrub. They can also be limbed up into a tree.



The new double blooming 'Blue Chiffon' looks to be
a pretty variety, but I would like to hear from gardeners
who have one to see if it is blue or more
purple in color before purchasing one.
Other than the invasive character of the shrub, the blooms
are gorgeous for a late summer show and the Hummingbirds
love them.




Remember Balisha @ Never Enough Time
in your thoughts and prayers.


Happy Gardening Everyone!





12 comments:

Helen said...

Those are pretty flowers. Helen

Pat said...

Always admired these shrubs.
Don't know much about them...like bloom time. I try for things that bloom for a long period...knowing it's hard with perennials.
Still very pretty.

Tootsie said...

they are just lovely. I am trying to see if I can get some...or if they are hardy here at all...

T Opdycke said...

I loved the photos of the hollyhock (Rose of Sharon) dolls. I have such fond memories of sitting in the yard with deep red and pink hollyhock blossoms, buds showing color, and the little flat green bud (or was it the seed pod?)and creating lovely ladies in fine gowns. My mother and oldest sister taught me how and I passed on the summer pasttime with my daughter.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I love Rose of Sharon, those dolls are so cute too. I just started seeing pictures of the doubles, and they really are pretty. I'll be interested to hear what other gardeners have to say. I think it's so neat that you have one from the seeds of your Grandmother's.

sweetbay said...

My mom showed us how to make dolls with toothpicks and Rose-of-Sharon flowers too!

Lona said...

Good morning girls! When we were kids we made dolls from, hollyhocks, rose of sharon and hibiscus blooms. We thought it great fun then.
It is so nice to hear that others have also done it with hollyhocks, etc.
Thansk for dropping by.

Joe Todd said...

Love the flowers but don't like to trim the bushes. Actually, my favorite flower is the Morning Glory. I don't know why that is but I do remember them from my childhood

Anonymous said...

I sure you love your beautiful Rose of Sharons, and wish I had some myself. It's the only plant that hubby won't let me have! Too many seedlings in the lawn was our past experience. Oh well, I'll just have to enjoy ours!

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Unknown said...

Thank you so much for sharing this post with the newbie party. It's a lovely flowers.. i like it.. keep it up!!!

Rose Of Sharon Varieties

Unknown said...

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