Rose of sharon plant

Can this plant be grown indoors during winter months?

They can get BIG. How about starting cuttings now and wintering THEM over?

Hellbell-

Your RoS should be hardy in your area. My largest one was 'babied' by me for the first couple of years (started from a 6" cutting) and I had it in a large container that I would 'drag' in during the winter and out during the spring. I finally dug it into it's permanent location 2 years ago and it is thriving. I took some cuttings of it this spring and just 'shoved' them into the garden dirt and now I've got another of the same RoS growing in another location---no 'mollycuddling' this time :)

Below is a pic of my RoS---sorry about the bluriness! It's lavender colored with a burgundy eye. I have many seeds that I harvested from it last year...would you like some???

Jan

I also have some cuttings that I rec'd in a trade last year---they are fully-rooted and are outside (in a pot til I transplant them)...below is a pic of what the flower should look like (NOT my picture as these are not big enuff to set buds, for flowers, yet---I located picture via Google)

Jan

Is your soil on the acidic side? In the south, these plants are particularly susceptible to cotton root rot, since they are in the same family. A beautiful shrub can look great one day, and all of a sudden in 2 or 3 days it is completely dead. People are going to crape myrtles for this reason. That disease may be limited to the South only. It occurs only in alkaline soils.

HMMMMM! Never heard of cotton root rot. I do have several "Confederate Rose's" (are these considered the double-flowering form of RoS?) plants that I grew from cuttings but I know that those are not hardy in my zone so they get to come inside for the winter. Is it possible for you, in the south, to just grow your RoS in a pot to avoid crr?

We've done a lot of composting/amending our soil so no acidity in the soil---just a little clay (deep down). And, lotsa worm 'buddies' :)

Jan

Now that is an interesting question, and since CRR is soil-borne, it should protect them against the disease. The problem is that, at least here, rose of sharon gets BIG and the root system would be huge after a couple of years. But theoretically it ought to work.

Planting the RoS in a pot/planter would keep it/them from growing as big as it would if it weren't in a limited space. But, I believe that that could be do-able if you should decide to grow RoS.

That's sorta of what I'm doing with my brugs this year. I've got approx. 20 brugs; half of them I unpotted (rootbound) and direct planted into several garden beds, the other half are planted in large pots/containers. Kinda an experiment on my part. Come cold weather I'll have to dig out the planted ones and re-containerize them to overwinter inside. So far the brugs in the pots are as tall, or taller, than the inground ones but I did notice that the foliage on the container grown brugs are all 'huge' (as in 9-12" long x 4-6" wide!) plus the slugs aren't snacking as much on my potted brugs!

Happy gardening-
Jan

Beautiful plants in the hibiscus family- hope it all works out for you!

You should check out the Hibiscus Forum. There is loads of information there about every type of Hibiscus including your Rose of Sharon.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/hibiscus/all/

Hello Janlynn,
I would love to have some of your rose of sharon seeds. can you send them to 2419 w 75th st. woodridge illinois. 60517.

I got several cuttings from my SIL's ROS bush. Using someone's advice, I dipped the cuttings in plant growth hormone and put them in syrofoam cups (with holes poked in the bottom) filled with perilite, they said to put the cups with the cuttings in them in a shallow pan with water in it so that they could be watered from the bottom. They said to leave them there about 2-3 wks and when you tugged on them and felt resistance there should be roots growing. After 3 weeks, I pulled them out but there wasn't any roots so I took a chance and put them in regular potting soil in a large 5 gallon bucket (I should have used a small pot). It's been about 2 months now since they've been in the bucket. I began watering them every day (with a feeding with Miracle Grow about once a week) and putting them in the sun a few hours every day. About 3 weeks ago it grew many little green buds and then 2 weeks ago the buds opened up to almost full size flowers. I didn't think they were suppose to flower for a couple of years......until they were at least 2-1/2 ft high?

Does this means (already blooming) that they can be planted outside this fall and they would survived the winter?

I later found out that they were a sterile kind of ROS (aphrodite - I think) and only propagate by grafting. Here is a photo of them.....most are only 7 inches high.

Von

This message was edited Jul 26, 2008 3:06 PM

Von, that is way cool to have flowers already. I gotta start fertilizing my plants on a regular basis!

Hi Hellbell! Welcome to DG :) I can send out some RoS seeds to you right away...watch your mail!

Jan

I have numerous Bushes of all colors they strive well indoors and out. I would like to know if anyone has clippings of the red or white bell type flowers. I have only purple in this type. I have red and white of the carnation style but would like to add the later.

Hellbell, just a word of caution, never put any personal information on this site. Lots of nasty people out there. Always use dmail to the person you need to get that information to.

JanLynn, I'm sure you know that all plants like different amounts of feeding a week......my husband has been "helping" me because I don't get up early and he does and at first he was feeding my fushias everyday and it almost burnt the roots up. I cut them way back and now they have blooms coming out again.

Von

Von---how very well I know that, I can't begin to tell you how many different fertilizers I also have to use due to the diversity of my plants/flowers. You certainly have done a good job with yours! Right now my 6' Lavender/Rose RoS is filled with flower buds---cannot wait for all that beauty! Only 'disappointment' is that the flowers only last one day. My tropical hibiscus held onto some of its flowers for 2 days which surprised, but pleased, me :)

Happy gardening!!!
Jan

JanLynn,

Because my 6'-7'' ROS cuttings are already blooming, does this means that they can be planted outside this fall and they would survived the winter?

I've loved plants and gardens for years but I've not been able to have one.....in my later years now I've began trying to get a few plants going.

Von, I think it's wonderful that you're gardening now since you have loved plants for so long. Good luck! I couldn't believe your husband was feeding your fuchsias every day! It's a miracle they aren't dead. I assume they're in pots, so they need fertilizing more often than bedding plants, but every 3 weeks should be often enough unless you run water through the pots every day; then maybe every two weeks but a lower strength solution. How old are those tall althea cuttings? Where have they been? Have they grown to that size only since this spring??????????????????

dp72,

This spring, I got several (5 to 6 inch long) cuttings from my SIL's ROS bush, before they began to bud. A person from on DG advised me to take off all the leaves except for the top 2-4 and dip the stem in powdered plant growth hormone. (The whole story is above). So, all the leaves on it now is mostly new growth.....then they grew buds and that's when I started feeding them a little MG.

Do you think they would survive the winter, either in that bucket outside (it is about 1-1/2 ft deep) or even planted outside this fall. Or should I bring them in and wait until spring to plant them outside?

The fushias are in a hanging pot......and they did die and a lady on here told me to cut them WAY back and to look for seed pods and to cut them off too.....I did that and it took a couple of weeks and they started getting new little buds. Now I do the feeding.... LOL.

Von

Altheas are supposed to be cold hardy from Zone 5 up. I don't know what zone you're in but I think WV is Zone 5. Plants in containers are much more likely to freeze outside. They don't have the insulation that things in the ground do. Why don't you plant one in the ground NOW (water it often until it gets established) and see if it survives the winter? The others, bring them in the garage or somewhere when there is going to be a hard freeze. If they're not too hard to move, you can move them in and out depending on the weather. Whatever you decide, leaving them out all winter in a pot is the worst thing you could do. You should be proud of yourself for growing those small cuttings into large plants in only one season!

Thanks for all the advice everyone......

dp72.....one zone map I looked at today says I'm in Zone 6b....I live in Southern West Virginia.

Von

Hellbell:

RoS saplings are on their way to you---both colors. Couldn't find seeds, saplings are better, anyway :) USPS confirmation: 0308 1400 0001 4070 9513.

Happy gardening!!!
Jan

Hello JanLynn,
I recieved your saplings Thankyou.
If you are interested I have quite a crop of brain celoshia that I could send you seeds when they are matured.
Hellbell

Hi Hellbell! Thanks for letting me know that you rec'd the plants---much easier to grow than starting from seeds anyway, right?!

Thank you for your offer of seeds but I've got so many of my own now that I haven't used.

Happy gardening!!!
Jan