NO BUDS ON ROSE OF SHARON

[iswecrazy]

I saw a few questions regarding this tree/shrub and no blooms, buds were falling off, etc. But my rose of Sharon tree, 5 yrs. old, in not even forming buds this year. We've had ample rain (last summer we suffered a drought, but I kept it watered and had blooms), it's in full sun, highs in the 80's for at least a month now.
This is the first year it's failed to produce buds. Any suggestions?

[emily_M]

I found this answer on another website but I thought it might help you, the woman who asked the question was having a similar problem with her 4 year old plant hope her answer helps

Rose of Sharon only blooms on new growth, not old growth that was there from last year. If you prune them in the early spring before they start putting on leaves, they will grow and bloom in late summer on the new growth. Pruning a Rose of Sharon doesn't stop it from blooming, it encourages it, because it will grow and bloom on the new growth. Timing of the pruning is what counts. If the ROS had set buds already and then it was pruned, it won't bloom because the buds were cut off for that year.
That is why it is especially important to prune in very early spring. Don't worry about your bushes or tree-like ROS. Next spring just prune them back by 1/3 or less. Very early spring. No later than mid April. They will grow and set buds in May and June for their blooming again next summer which is probably towards the end of July sometime. Remember, don't prune off More than 1/3 of the plant. Don't fertilize the plant til July, if you must fertizile. You don't want to feed a stressed out plant, and by pruning it in early April, you are stressing it out.
Good Luck!
It'll be fine for you, you'll see. They're very hardy.

[iswecrazy]

Thanks so much for trying to help. The REALLY puzzling thing is that this is the first spring that I DID PRUNE it back, the first or second week in March, before there were any buds, so there's lots of new growth, but NO buds on that new growth. I never pruned before, since I wanted height for the tree, BUT it had blooms each year. I, too, had read somewhere that pruning would give it more buds/blooms, but it seems that this little tree is doing exactly the opposite of what it should be doing! But like I said, thanks so much for taking the time to try to help me out! I'm going to go to my local nursery and see what they have to say, and I'll post it here if it's helpful. I just hope they don't tell me the same thing you did, and send me home even more puzzled!

[emily_M]

Sorry I couldn't help much, hope the nursery tells you what's wrong because Rose of Sharon are lovely and it would be a shame if it didn't bloom.

[Marlingardener]

We are in Central Texas also. Remember that mild winter we had? Remember how early it warmed up? Your pruning in March probably cut off buds--tiny ones that you wouldn't notice and usually wouldn't be there in mid-March, but because of our unusual weather . . . .
I usually don't prune anything much past mid-February, but this year I had rosebuds in mid-February. Weird, and hopefully we'll get back to a more reasonable weather schedule.