1 Gallon $7.97 2 Gallon $14.97 3 Gallon $19.97
Althea (Hibiscus syriacus)
Althea ‘Rose of Sharon’
Althea popularly known as Rose of Sharon, is a favorite of gardeners everywhere. It is a prolific flowering deciduous shrub that has a vase shaped growth habit and blooms late summer (early August in zone 7) and lasts until first frost. During the heat of summer and after most flowering shrubs are done flowering, the Rose of Sharon is just starting to strut her stuff.
Once blooming starts, the bush stays covered in continuous buds, blooming until frost. Rose of Sharon bushes are hardy in USDA zones 4-9. They can get 8 to 10 feet tall with a spread of 4 – 6 feet, however they can be pruned to maintain desired size and shape.
When planted in your garden, Rose of Sharon bushes provides structure and height to your garden and looks great behind perennials. The flowers attract Hummingbirds and Butterflies to your garden. Bushes can also be trained as a tree by allowing a single branch to grow and pruning off lower side shoots until desired height is reached.
This is an easy care shrub that is heat and drought tolerant and likes full sun to light shade. They are late to leaf out in the spring so be patient as the blooms will make up for the wait.
Rose of Sharon can be planted in spring or fall spacing 6 – 10 feet apart. Mulch well in the spring and water as needed. Flowers are produced on new wood, so prune after blooming or in early spring to shape and reduce size. Pruning back to 2-3 buds per branch will encourage larger flowers.
Zones 4-9 Full to Part Sun 8-10 ft tall x 4-6 ft wide
Double Red Rose of Sharon
