Can this shrub be saved

My double rose of sharon which I have had for several years is acting like it is moisture starved. It is all wilty even though I water it when I water everything else. I treated the ground around it with a systemic insecticide just in case it is being attacked underground. The things near it seems to be doing fine.
The lower leaves are turning yellow. I am worried I will lose it.
Anyone have any idea what I can do for it. I had some mulch around the base and I removed it thinking maybe it was too close and cutting off oxygen to the roots. I have tried to think how to help it.
Has anyone else experienced this with their doubles? It has so many blooms and buds that it looks like it is putting out too many. I have never seen it bloom so much before. Could this be a sign it is in distress?
Hope someone can help.

Here is how the leaves look, all limp and wilty.

The yellowing leaves and the wiltiness make me think it's being overwatered. One possibility is that you're watering it too much, other possibility is that it's the "clay pot" effect--if you have heavy clay soil water can tend to collect in the planting hole vs draining nicely, effectively drowning the plant. If it were just wilting and didn't have the yellow leaves, it could also be critters munching the roots (I had a gopher in my back garden at my old house, and I could always tell when he'd struck again because I'd see plants start to wilt for no apparent reason, then when I'd check them they'd be missing half their roots). But the combo of the wilting plus the yellowing leaves makes me suspect overwatering. Could be totally wrong though, if one of the experts comes along and tells you something different I would trust them!

I'll take your advice for now and hold back on the watering.
Thanks.

Before you do that, I would poke around in the soil a bit and see if it feels too wet a few inches down--the symptoms of over and under watering can be somewhat similar--since it sounds like you've been watering pretty frequently and you had mulch over it I think overwatering is more likely, but I would check to make sure before you change what you're doing.

That looks like a soil-borne pathogen to me. Plants do recover however. Wait and see what happens next year. Give it a little food right now to help it along. I think that's about all you can do at this point.

Hibiscus syriacus from memory is known for thriving in poor soils, dry soils, etc... which is why I'm led to believe a soil born pathogen is hitting it.

You never know - you might even have Japanese Beetle Larvae eating all your roots! And you won't know until such a time as you dig it up or when it is no-longer.

And I seriously doubt the yellowing is due to chlorosis/iron deficiency - the guy above mentions too much water - and there's no doubt in my mind that he could be partially right in why all the yellowing meaning a multitude of reasons could very well be the case.

I feel sorry for ya. I hope things work out for the best.

Take care,

Dax

Speaking of the unspeakable, I saw my first JB of 2006 today. Scottie, energize the force fields and set your phasers on kill!

Guy S.

Nice Guy, nice...

Lata.

Thanks for all the advice. I did a google and found something about hibiscus wilt at this URL
http://www.westalley.com/ludick/diseases.htm
It may be a fungal attack. I guess I better leave it alone as my husband suggested. I may do all the wrong things and kill the poor thing.

Windy,

Reading that guy's information it looks to me like your best option is to work into the top 2-3" of soil worm castings and drench the plant with one of the fungicides he recommends.

The bleach drain I believe he says the plant needs shade after the application. You could always create shade with shade cloth draped over the plant.

You got a tricky case there. Most people I believe would probably simply remove the plant - impatience eventually gets the best of most. If this person can reverse the virus/wilt in containerized production - there's no reason why an established plant can't be treated the same.

I only read that information once - and kind of lost interest 2/3 through it. I'd re-read that a couple times.

I'm not helping much - it's all there to be sorted through. Something not mentioned and I can never spell it correctly but might very well be another good additive: Microhizal beneficial fungi. That's a shot in the dark and an educated guess.

Guy or Girl - whoever wrote it.

Take care,

Dax

Thanks Dax, I will try to save it just to see if I can. LOL It is a challenge .