Feeding Rose of Sharon...

It seems some new keepers and old ones too don't know that for 20 years I operated a small special needs turtle and tortoise rescue and kept Sulcata and other common tortoises.I drove truck from Coast to Coast for about 20 years, then got medically retired and hung out with my sister...an extremely well known moderator here for over 25 years. She asked me to keep a 2 year old Sulcata named Bob...and I fell in love and over the years I had him and over 200 other turtles and tortoises. I moved from California to Oregon...met great people on TFO and one man, a well known Aldab keeper...sent me some Rose of Sharon and cactus. This is what
happened over the years...
I have purple ones...
.
and pure white ones...


white with red centers...

I have another that is spliced in red, white and sorta blue...does not photograph well...

so I have 8 RoS trees taller than my house and 6 tall RoS bushes...then this is what happens...

free freakin food all summer and fall...they eat the leafs and the blooms
see this tortoise smiling?

this famous keeper/breeder also sent some cactus for my desert type tortoises...

I have 18 cactuses in pots now (it rains a lot in Oregon).
The reason for this thread...is I was able to do what I did here with turtles and tortoises for all these years because of having the free Rose of Sharon to feed the animals. I also grew grape vines for the leafs for torts and the grapes for the box turtles,
and check this out...I grow a large cultivated dandelion patch for this...


do I know how to make tortoises smile or what?!!

The real point of this thread is to say thank you so much to the tort keeper friend I made on TFO so many years ago. I know he didn't ever think this would happen...I also have supplied Rose of Sharon trees to to a large tortoise keeper and breeder in California for his giant tortoises.
If my Rose of Sharon supplier wants to admit he is the guilty one, he'll see this thread and know I'm talking about him and he will confess right here in public.
I am emotionally indebted to him, really. I could not have done what I did if I had not had these Rose of Sharon trees and cactuses. Thank you from the bottom of my cold heart...lol

My entire property is covered in Sharon. Thsy really come in handy especially during drier periods when weeds aren't abundant

I've tried rose of Sharon a few time over the years. They don't seem t like it here. They stay tiny and just don't take off. The ground squirrels ate my last batch. I just saw some yesterday at another place near here and it looked weak and scraggly. Must be too hot and not enough rain or humidity. It sure looks nice when I see it in your pictures Maggie, or back east in Georgia or Louisiana.

I don't know if I will ever grow rose of Sharon as all the care guides I have read sound complicated.

Here in Finland it is recommended to bring them in to some garage etc. below room temperature over winter and that it should be kept at 0 c to 10 c (32 F to 50 F). Then in February to March it should be slowly moved to room temperature. And even in the summer it is recommended to cover the plant with cloth during cold nights. Overall it sounds like a lot of pampering is needed

Tom said:

I've tried rose of Sharon a few time over the years. They don't seem t like it here. They stay tiny and just don't take off. The ground squirrels ate my last batch. I just saw some yesterday at another place near here and it looked weak and scraggly. Must be too hot and not enough rain or humidity. It sure looks nice when I see it in your pictures Maggie, or back east in Georgia or Louisiana.

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I dig up young starts when they are about a foot tall...they need a lot of water for the first year, then they become pretty drought resistant. But that first year with mucho water is really important

The_Four_Toed_Edward said:

I don't know if I will ever grow rose of Sharon as all the care guides I have read sound complicated.

Here in Finland it is recommended to bring them in to some garage etc. below room temperature over winter and that it should be kept at 0 c to 10 c (32 F to 50 F). Then in February to March it should be slowly moved to room temperature. And even in the summer it is recommended to cover the plant with cloth during cold nights. Overall it sounds like a lot of pampering is needed

Click to expand...

It freezes and snows here and my RoS live out in it...they are freeze resistant

The_Four_Toed_Edward said:

I don't know if I will ever grow rose of Sharon as all the care guides I have read sound complicated.

Here in Finland it is recommended to bring them in to some garage etc. below room temperature over winter and that it should be kept at 0 c to 10 c (32 F to 50 F). Then in February to March it should be slowly moved to room temperature. And even in the summer it is recommended to cover the plant with cloth during cold nights. Overall it sounds like a lot of pampering is needed

Click to expand...

not sure of your climate or if there are different kinds of rose of sharon? we are usda plant zone 6a here, -10F to -5F, coldest i seen here was -20F, they are weeds here........ they don't flower here until august.......








i'd pull small ones out the ground, stick the roots in a pond, use a couple rocks to hold them
up and they do fine.....

The_Four_Toed_Edward said:

I don't know if I will ever grow rose of Sharon as all the care guides I have read sound complicated.

Here in Finland it is recommended to bring them in to some garage etc. below room temperature over winter and that it should be kept at 0 c to 10 c (32 F to 50 F). Then in February to March it should be slowly moved to room temperature. And even in the summer it is recommended to cover the plant with cloth during cold nights. Overall it sounds like a lot of pampering is needed

Click to expand...

I’m from bc Canada and have colder winters as low as -10ish but also have spring and summer and I have a bunch in my garden that are thriving and we just planted and left them

Tom said:

I've tried rose of Sharon a few time over the years. They don't seem t like it here. They stay tiny and just don't take off. The ground squirrels ate my last batch. I just saw some yesterday at another place near here and it looked weak and scraggly. Must be too hot and not enough rain or humidity. It sure looks nice when I see it in your pictures Maggie, or back east in Georgia or Louisiana.

Click to expand...

ROS need a good winter rest to thrive. It's the warm temps that bother them not the cold temps.

Len B said:

ROS need a good winter rest to thrive. It's the warm temps that bother them not the cold temps.

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We get cold nights here in winter. Down in to the 30s every night, and occasionally into the high 20s. Daytime highs are typically in the 60s, with occasional cold spells dipping into daytime highs in the low 50s, and occasional warm spells with daytime winter highs in the 80s. Most winter days are mid 60s to mid 70s, but always with the cold nights.

In my travels, it appears that ROS do best in wetter climates. I watered mine heavily every day, but the air is just sooooo dry all the time. They will survive here, they just don't get full and healthy looking like they do in more rainy humid areas.

Hollyhocks, and other types of hibiscus tend to do well here. Or just a little south of where I am. In my area, regular hibiscus will burn in the summer and freeze in the winter, but just 20 miles south, they seem to do okay. African hibiscus thrive where I am. That one seems to like the summer heat.

mark1 said:

not sure of your climate or if there are different kinds of rose of sharon?

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We call it blue hibiscus (even though there are other colors as well), I am talking about Hibiscus syriacus). According to the care guides I have read they flower here from August to September and may bear fruit from September to October but often the fruit development is stopped by the first freeze.

I read some more about it after you all commented about the over wintering. According to some care guides in some places with the right conditions they may survive the winter outdoors. Here is what one care guide says about keeping the plant outdoors over winter:
"A shrub planted outdoors needs careful winter protection. For example, you can surround the shrub with a metal mesh and fill the inside with dry leaves. Place a plastic cover over it to keep the leaves dry and well-ventilated. Do not secure the cover so tightly that air cannot circulate at all."

Basically depending on the source some say it can't stay out for the winter, some say it can.

Looking at this comparision table, my zone would be compared to zone 3b USDA:

The_Four_Toed_Edward said:

We call it blue hibiscus (even though there are other colors as well), I am talking about Hibiscus syriacus).

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same plant...... 3b, ouch, that is a cold climate...... it likes ohio........

"While Hibiscus syriacus (Rose of Sharon) is widely grown in Northeast Ohio, it is not legally banned by the state. However, because it self-seeds prolifically and can escape into local natural areas, many regional park systems consider it a nuisance or invasive plant, and some garden groups in Ohio heavily caution against planting it"

mark1 said:

same plant...... 3b, ouch, that is a cold climate

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I know right! Not ideal for most tortoise species and many advice against brumating outdoors for example. 5a seems to be our warmest zone.