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seaellare
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Posts: 72
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:12 am
Location: zone 7 Piedmont, SC

Rose of Sharon?'s

This is my first year in my new house, and I just found out that I have a Rose of Sharon!!! It is blooming now, looks gorgeous. It's about 5' tall, but now I need to know what to do with it.

It is towards the bottom of a slope, not in the best place - in plain red clay. When we moved in, it was a few sticks, about 2' tall - I didn't know if it was alive at all. I threw some Peters fertilizer on it early this spring, and it perked up and grew right away. Imagine my surprise when the purple flowers bloomed! I need to transplant it, however. We are eventually going to use creeping phlox over the slope, and the ROS would just get lost. I have read that early spring is best to transplant them, but I also read fall is good as well. How shallow are their roots (will it be easy to dig and move)? I read that it likes full sun/partial shade, so I have a really good place for it.

I'd like to propogate it, and I read that you just cut off a branch 3-6" and keep it humid. Is it really that simple? How long would it need to be potted for before I put it in the ground? Ideally, I'd like to end up with 4-5 of these, and use them in the back corner of my yard to hide the gorgeous view of my electrical and cable boxes LOL. (the lines were already marked, so I know where the wires are)

Thanks a bunch!!
Christine

Newt
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Posts: 1868
Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 10:44 pm
Location: Maryland zone 7

Hi Christine,

I have read that early spring is best to transplant them, but I also read fall is good as well.
You can transplant in the fall and it will probably be happier if you do. Wait until it's finished blooming.
How shallow are their roots (will it be easy to dig and move)?
You will need to dig a fairly large rootball. It should be as wide or wider then the outer branches. Dig down gently with your shovel and just gently pry to see how deep you need to go. Here's how to transplant, water and mulch. Do be sure to add about 3" of compost to the new planting bed, not just the hole, and mix it into the soil before you dig the hole. Have the new hole ready before you dig. You will probably have to make adjustments, but at least it will be started. Mulch as you would a tree.
https://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/trees/f1147w.htm
https://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1298/
https://www.watersaver.org/pdfs/shrub_watering_recommendations.pdf
https://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/mulching.aspx

Here's some growing info for your Rose of Sharon.
https://www.seedsofknowledge.com/roseofsharon.html

Here's how to propagate. This first site is for tropical hibiscus and yours is hardy, but the process is the same. Scroll down about 1/3 of the way. You'll need a bag of perlite (don't breathe in the dust!!), wet it before you put the cuttings in and go from there. You can do softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall. The second site explains what softwood and hardwood are.
https://www.rozpat.net/Basics%20and%20Beyond.htm
https://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/hort/g06970.htm

Newt



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