Rose of Sharon
Hibiscus syriacus · Malvaceae Popular
An upright shrub with hollyhock-like flowers in pink, purple, white or violet-blue from midsummer to autumn, when few shrubs flower. It leafs out very late in spring.
- Size
- 10 ft tall, 6½ ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid July to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around rose of Sharon
The planner designed this bed around rose of Sharon when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why rose of Sharon stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Rose of Sharon × 1, pink
- 2 Winter heath × 7, white
- 3 Sea thrift × 21, pink
- 4 Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' × 3, yellow
- 5 Southernwood × 3, grey-green leaves
- 6 Salvia 'May Night' × 3, purple
- 7 Easter lily × 6, white
- 8 Dutch iris × 12, blue
- 9 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 6, purple
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are bells, globes, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does winter heath.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 10 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to southernwood (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 11 weeks. From mid July to mid September.
- In company. With salvia 'May Night' and Easter lily in mid July: 3 kinds at once.
Planned as a cottage garden: 38 of the 38 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Among the neighbours here are two pairs of recognised partners, such as ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' and salvia 'May Night'. Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' and rose of Sharon anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Worth a second look, according to the Design check: heights.
The planner's own design check: 7 Excellent, 8 Good, 1 Satisfactory, 1 Needs revision. Its weakest point is height and scale: Heights average about 10 in at the front, 2 ft in the middle and 5 ft at the back. Along the back row the heights step up and down, between 3½ ft and 10 ft, and no two neighbours are the same height. It flags one thing to watch: Easter lily is highly poisonous to cats. Rose of Sharon spreads aggressively.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where rose of Sharon goes in a border
At 10 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
Its narrow, upright shape fits a small space. Older varieties seed themselves everywhere; choose a sterile cultivar, which also flowers for longer.
- Late-summer flowers
- Informal hedges and screens
- Tolerant of heat and city conditions
What to plant with rose of Sharon
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Daylily: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for five weeks; low enough (2½ ft) to stand in front of it.
- Black-eyed Susan: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for 11 weeks; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Dwarf fountain grass 'Hameln': in flower together for nine weeks, from late July; low enough (2½ ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about rose of Sharon
Does rose of Sharon need sun or shade?
Rose of Sharon grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does rose of Sharon grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does rose of Sharon flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid July to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Mid July to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Mid July to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Early July to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Early July to mid September |
| Zone 9 | Late June to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should rose of Sharon be planted?
5 ft (150 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6½ ft (200 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 10 ft (300 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many rose of Sharon plants do I need?
Usually one. At 5 ft (150 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 5 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is rose of Sharon poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension and the ASPCA.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like rose of Sharon?
Rose of Sharon comes from S. China, Taiwan. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- American beautyberry: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 4 ft shorter, flowers late June to late July.
- Flowering currant: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 2½ ft shorter, flowers late March to late April.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat rose of Sharon?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will rose of Sharon spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is high. Self-seeds very freely, and has escaped into the wild in parts of the East. Choose a seedless cultivar, or cut off the seed pods.
What flowers after rose of Sharon?
Rose of Sharon is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Swamp sunflower: from late September to late October, 6½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Montauk daisy: from mid September to late October, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does rose of Sharon look like in winter?
Rose of Sharon drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is rose of Sharon good for bees and butterflies?
Rose of Sharon is visited by pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
More Hibiscus
- Hardy hibiscus Hibiscus moscheutos
- Hardy hibiscus 'Kopper King' Hibiscus 'Kopper King'
- Hardy hibiscus 'Lord Baltimore' Hibiscus 'Lord Baltimore'
- Rose of Sharon 'Blue Chiffon' Hibiscus syriacus 'Notwoodthree' (Blue Chiffon)
- Rose of Sharon 'Diana' Hibiscus syriacus 'Diana'
- Rose of Sharon 'Sugar Tip' Hibiscus syriacus 'America Irene Scott' (Sugar Tip)
- Scarlet rose mallow Hibiscus coccineus
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants with blue flowers
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 10 ft (300 cm) tall, 6½ ft (200 cm) wide
- Plant
- 5 ft (150 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid July to mid September; open bowls; pink, purple, white, blue
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Vase-shaped, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Comes from
- S. China, Taiwan
- Attracts
- Pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, heat, salt, wet soil
Checked against NC State Extension and ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.