Rose of Sharon Cuttings

In case some didn't see another post I commented on.

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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 that 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

They look pretty healthy to me. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting them out this fall. I dug up a ROS seedling from my daughter's house and put it out last year (2007). It bloomed the first year and has grown very quickly. It's now about 8 or 9 feet tall and full of blooms again this year. If you leave them in that bucket too long, the roots will grow together and it will be harder to dig them out to plant. If I were you, I'd go for it this fall.

Thanks for the advice.....I may just go for it this fall and plant them outside. We've been having fairly mild winters the last few yrs.

Von

This message was edited Jul 28, 2008 12:11 AM

UGH!!! I went to look at your above picture again and lost my response---grrr!

Yes, do plant your RoS's into the ground as NatureLover says. I had a nice response and I 'lost' it (my fault)...good luck!

Jan

Winters have been pretty mild here, so I think I would go for it.. I wouldn't wait too long to plant them. Plant and let them get a good root base before winter...

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

I didn't realize we aren't suppose to post the same photo more than once (different threads). I just got an email from an Admin....saying they had deleted my photo (RoS). It must be a rule that I've overlooked somewhere.

Von

I looked and saw that you submitted your picture to Plant Files, so I suspect what happened is somehow it accidentally got submitted twice or something like that and they deleted the duplicate. Whenever that happens you get an email saying they've deleted your picture. If they'd deleted a thread or post of yours, they would have said they deleted your thread/post (not picture) and you would have gotten a better explanation of why. Cross-posting the exact same thing to multiple forums is not recommended, but unless you posted it in a ton of different places it would be unlikely that they'd remove anything.

Thanks for clearing that up ecrane3.......I guess I should have just posted a link to the other thread with the same photo.

Von

There's nothing wrong with posting the same picture in multiple threads, the thing that's discouraged is starting a thread with the same identical question in a whole bunch of forums. I looked at the list of threads you've started and I don't see any duplication like that so there's nothing wrong with posting your picture in two different threads. Like I said, I think when you submitted your picture to Plant Files it accidentally got submitted twice and they deleted the 2nd one. I've had that happen to me a couple times.

Getting back to the Rose of Sharon, would anyone care to pontificate on the difference between that and Hibiscus? To me they seem ultra similar, but never have I seen them side by side. If mine is ROS, what are the best planting conditions? How about the tolerable conditions? Mine is in a pot in the middle of the front yard now, with no particular place to go. Thanks.

They are Hibiscus...Latin name is Hibiscus syriacus. There are a number of other Hibiscus species as well, so in order to tell you how ROS is different, we'd have to know which other hibiscus you're talking about. Here's the plant files entry for the straight species H. syriacus so you can see the conditions that they would like http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/788/

Ms Dublin (I've forgotten your real name), I thank you. You are always a fountain of inspiration and knowledge!