Can anyone tell me how to tell the difference between a Hibiscus and a Rose of Sharon? I have looked on line and can't find anything that helps me distinguish. Thanks.
I have been wondering the same thing. We have a strange long stem growth on ours and can not find out why after many years it produced this. Does anyone know.
I'll add one thing...I do know that Rose of Sharon is a type of Hibiscus but I don't know how to tell if it is truly a Rose of Sharon or another type of Hibiscus, I guess is really my question.
Omi2gc, Do you have a picture?
Rose of Sharon grows taller &straight up, looks kinda like a small tree & the flowers are smaller. Also in some climates it will spread almost to the point of being invasive. They do not die back to the ground in the winter. They just lose their leaves. And speaking of leaves I think the leaves are different from the hibuscus but can't think how right now. Maybe samller? Any help? IMO a Hibiscus is a much prettier plant. Did you check out Dave's Garden for pictures?
Thanks a lot. More helop than I got on the Internet so far. We have so many hibiscus here in Bogota and I was wondering if maybe some were Rose of Sharon. I'll have to watch closely.
Hi Sunny Day
The difference between the rose of sharon and the hardy hibiscus is that the rose of sharon is a hardy shrub and the hibiscus is a herbaceous perennia. I live in Zone 4 and the rose of sharon has to be treated as an annual here or brought into the house for the winter. The hibiscus comes through the winter for me. The trick to bring a hibiscus through the winter is to plant them deep.. When you buy them if the stems are 12" tall they need to be planted all underground except for the last 2-3 inches and not put in a soggy location for the winter.They come up here about the first to second week of June and grow what seem like at a foot a day and come into bloom about the last week of July and bloom until mid September. This is just my experience with this plant.
Snowwolf57 in Nebraska
The hardy shrub form (rose of sharon) is also called an althea. You might find more info under that name.
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