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Propagating rose of sharon

By Sereba Agiobu-Kemmer
27 August 2016   |   3:18 am
Rose of Sharon flowers are related to Mallows being of at the Hibiscus genus flowers can be rose, violet, purple or white. Another name for the Rose of Sharon is Hibiscus Syriacus, with lot of varieties.

Rose of Sharon flowers are related to Mallows being of at the Hibiscus genus flowers can be rose, violet, purple or white. Another name for the Rose of Sharon is Hibiscus Syriacus, with lot of varieties. I would say they are Hibiscus. Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus Syriacus) in gardens is an attractive, easy to c are for plant that needs minimal attention.

Rose of Sharon blooms profusely and its attractive flowers are its main selling point like other types of Hibiscus, its colorful cup shared flowers bear a striking stamen. It continues blooming all year round, it is able to offer colour when many shrubs have long ceased blooming. It is critical for gardens to be able to grow such flowering shrubs, if they are intent on managing sequence of bloom in their landscapes. A heat lover, the plant is reasonably drought-tolerant. In fact if your Rose of Sharon has yellow leaves, it could be due to over watering, rather than to lack of water.

The rose of Sharon is one of the types of Hibiscus genes that flourishes outside of tropical and sub-tropical regions. Another hardy Hibiscus is the Hibiscus Moscheutos with giant-sized flower. The plant shows good pollution tolerance, making it appropriate for urban gardens. Planting is a fairly easy task that will only take you a little time. Rose of Sharon is a fairly large shrub with big exotic flowers. It wills with minimal attention, it is a low maintenance shrub.

Location
It prefers a sunny site or one with only partial shade propagation.

Propagation
Propagation is by soft woodcuttings and seeds.
Taking and propagating the cuttings
One way to propagate Rose of Sharon plants is to use cuttings.

Always take more cuttings than you need
Not all cuttings will ‘take’ (successfully develop roots). For this reason you should always plant more cuttings than you need plants from. You can usually have between a third and a half of all cuttings developing into viable plants.

Take a 5-inch (12.7cm) cutting from your Rose of Sharon plants
Take about 5-inches (12.7cm) of strong healthy recent growth from your Rose of Sharon, cutting at 45 degrees angle.
The growth should be soft and green, slightly hard, but not woody-it needs to be this year’s growth, not woody old growth. Remove the lower leaves from your cutting. Dip the cut ends into rooting hormone or powder. Now you have a choice of how to root your cuttings: In compost or water.

Propagate your Rose of Sharon cuttings in compost
Insert about 1.5 to 2 inches (3.8 to 5.1cm) of your cutting stem into pre-moistened compost in a pot. It is best to use cutting compost or to make up 50:50 mix of regular compost with grit cover the pot either with a plastic bag (make sure this doesn’t touch the cuttings-use plant stick to support the bag away from the cuttings if necessary) or an inverted clear plastic bottle with the spout cut off to make a mini “greenhouse”
Keep the cutting moist and away from direct sun- it should root in a month or two.

Alternatively, propagate your Rose of Sharon cuttings in water.
Some gardeners like to start the cuttings off in just a clear glass or plastic container of water rather than planted in compost. What is good about this is that you can see the root form.
Put about 2inches (5.1cm) of water into a glass or plastic container, put cuttings into its container and leave in a bright place out of direct sunlight. Cover it with a clear plastic bag and midst the cuttings daily with water from a spray can.
Although it is recommended that you take several cuttings to allow for failure, its important that you put each cutting into a separate container, otherwise bacteria tends to build up.

Change water regularly until the cutting is ready to plant. If you are propagating your Rose of Sharon cutting in water, you will need to remember to change the water regularly: every two or three days is advisable.
It is best to use rainwater if possible. If you don’t gather rainwater in your garden, and don’t have access to a stream, you can try standing tap water in a pitcher for 24hrs. This will get rid of some of chlorine in the tap water. This isn’t essential however, and your cuttings may be fine in tap water.
After you see roots about 1-2 inches (2.5-5.1cm) length, plant them in moist compost, Again keep them out of direct sunlight for a few months until roots are a bit more established.

Planting from Seed
Be aware that plants grown from seed may not look like the parent plant. If you grow Rose of Sharon from seeds, you harvest yourself; you may find that the newly grown plant doesn’t look exactly like its parent plant. Gardeners say the plants ‘don’t come true’ when this occurs.
Look underneath your existing plant first for any seedlings as your Rose of Sharon may have self-seeded.

See if there are any seedlings waiting for you that you can dig up and replant elsewhere. This will save you the effort of growing the plant from scratch.
When you do this, you might like to hoe or pull out the other seedlings so that your garden isn’t overrun by Rose of Sharon!
Wait until pods turn brown before harvesting them for seeds. If you prefer to plant your own Rose of Sharon seeds, wait until the pods are brown and mature before harvesting them.Some gardeners plant the seeds outdoors.Other gardeners will start the seeds off indoors about a month before taking it out.

Regardless of whether you are planting the seeds indoors, or outdoors, you should sow your seeds in seed compost. Moisten the compost, lay the seeds on top and cover with about a quarter inch of dry compost, spray with water. Keep the planted seeds moist in a bright location. If you start the seeds indoors, make sure to place them somewhere in light but out of direct sunlight, such as an indoor window ledge that doesn’t get direct sun. For both indoor and outdoor seeds, keep the compost moist until the seeds germinate in about 2-3 weeks.

Planting
What you’ll need for Rose of Sharon plant, shovel, water, and mulch/fertilizer. Find the best place for your Rose of Sharon
It likes full sun, but does well in partial shade. Don’t crowd it too much because it needs room to grow. If you are planting a hedge, place plant at least 6 feet apart. Dig a hole only as deep as root ball and two to three times as wide. If your soil is in poor condition, amend the soil you have removed from the hole with a small amount of compost. Otherwise don’t amend at all. Carefully remove the plant from the container and set it in the hole. Fill the hole half full in the soil, then water it well to settle the soil and eliminate air pockets, let the water drain, then fill the remainder of hole with soil and water thoroughly. Apply mulch3-4 inches such as well-rooted compost or leaf or organic fertilizer around the stem in an area large enough to cover the dirt. Apply mulch to a depth of 2-3inches all the way around the plant.

Do not allow mulch to touch the stem of the shrub.
Annual mulching will provide good soil, your rose of Sharon is susceptible to being over fertilized but is pretty resistance to being under fertilized so don’t worry too much about using chemical fertilizers – especially if you are mulching.Annual mulching will provide good soil improvement so don’t worry too much about chemical fertilizers

Uses of Rose of Sharon in landscape design.
Three popular uses for this bush are as follows:
Specimen,
Hedge plant, and
Foundation shrub.

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