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Rose of Sharon in Bloom

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This is the time of year when my Rose of Sharon tree becomes on the bright stars of my garden.

Our Rose of Sharon begins blooming anywhere from mid-July to the end of July, and continues pretty much through to the end of August. It’s lovely purple blooms brightening up the garden. Lovely.

Rose of Sharon tree - blooming

We moved into our house in June 2001 and it wasn’t until the spring of 2002 that we started landscaping our backyard to create our lovely raised bed garden.

Our neighbor, beside us, has a lovely old Rose of Sharon tree and for some reason hers was always sprouting little baby trees nearby. Now I can’t remember what year it was that she gave us one of her tree’s babies – but I think it was probably in 2003. That would make ours about 6 years old now.

We planted our gifted Rose of Sharon tree in the middle of one of our raised garden beds – basically it’s on the left side of the yard in the middle of the garden. A perfect place to see if from the kitchen window as I cook, clean or putter around or from our patio when we sit outside in the garden.

Here’s a view of the tree from the back of the garden looking towards the house –

Rose of Sharon tree - blooming 4

Unlike my neighbors old tree ours doesn’t tend to have young trees sprouting up around it in the spring … but maybe that’s just because we mulch our garden so heavily.

I just went out to measure our tree and it’s over 9 feet tall. I think I’ll prune it and shape it in the fall so that next year it won’t get any taller than it is now!

So far we haven’t had any problems with our tree. It’s late to leaf out in the spring – one of the last to develop leaf buds (often in June!), but otherwise it’s healthy and hardy.

I love the trees prolific beautiful hibiscus like flowers … aren’t they pretty?

Rose of Sharon tree - flower 2

Rose of Sharon tree - flower

Do you have a Rose of Sharon tree on your property or perhaps a Hibiscus if you live in a warm area? Don’t you love it?






Rose of Sharon blooming

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I’m always surprised when I look at the stats for this site and I see the search term “Rose of Sharon” come up almost daily all year round. There’s obviously a lot more people than I thought looking for information about Rose of Sharon shrubs!

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My Rose of Sharon came to me 7 years ago as a gift from my neighbor. She has a Rose of Sharon, lets call it the mother tree, that is about 40+ years old.

I’m not sure how tall her tree is but lets say it’s somewhere between 12 and 15 feet tall. The seedling she gave me has grown quite a bit over the years and it’s only about two feet shorter than the mother tree. It’s trunk and branches have thickened, but they are still smaller in diam. than the mother trees – but not by that much.

This is definitely not the best picture of the tree that I’ve ever taken, but to show you how big it is this year and what it looks like in full bloom, here we go …

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You can see the power line above the tree so that should give you an idea of how tall it is.

It’s been a beautiful addition to my garden. I love it’s purple blooms. Birds love the tree year round, and butterflies and other insects enjoy the tree when it’s in bloom. I’m sure it’s helped attract some of the butterflies that frequent my yard regularly each year.

The Rose of Sharon is a fairly hardy tree, but it’s slow to leaf out in the spring. It’s often one of the last plants to start to show signs of life in my garden. I usually see leaves forming by early June, but there have been a few years where it hasn’t leafed out till close to the end of June.

My elderly neighbor always thinks her tree is dead each year because it’s so slow and each year I reassure her that it will leaf out and bloom – and it does.

I’ll bet that the Rose of Sharon being slow to start up in the spring or early summer is one of the major reasons why I get so many searches on my site for this lovely shrub.

I used to have a Hardy Hibiscus that would die down each winter, but for the past two years it’s failed to come up. I think it’s gone. My tropical Hibiscus – that I keep indoors in the winter – is doing well in a large urn at the front of the house. There are several peach colored blooms on it.

Do you grow Hibiscus? What type and what have your experiences been with the plant?

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information. GTS participants remember to check in at As the Garden Grows each week so that we’ll know you made a new post!

Helpful tips to avoid injuring yourself in the garden

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Now that it’s July, you’ve probably finished most of your major gardening work for the summer, unless of course you are in the process of doing some landscaping. However, it’s always a good idea to use proper body mechanics while in the garden to avoid injury to your back or other joints.

Autumn will arrive soon enough and some of us will have more planting to do and other garden maintenance to prepare for winter so here’s some tips for you to help you avoid injuring yourself when you’re just trying to get a little gardening done.

Protect your joints

If you will be kneeling while working in the garden use knee pads, a knee cushion or a kneeler seat to protect your knee joints. Also remember to use tools with padded handles or easy spring loaded grips in order to minimize stiffness in your hands.

Take care when lifting!

We just finished mulching our garden – yes we were a little behind as usual! bags of garden mulch, soil and other garden supplies are heavy and can be difficult to carry. Use a wheelbarrow to move items from your car and place them close to the area where you will be using them. Another great idea is to open the bag, dumping the contents in the wheelbarrow or close to where you’ll be using it and then use a shovel to move small portions of the material to the garden.

Plan your tasks and conserve your energy

Just like in nursing and many other jobs it’s best to prepare everything that you’ll need before you start a task. Gather up all the gardening equiptment that you’ll need in a basket or container and carry it to the yard. This will save you trips and perhaps some time searching for tools once your already working in the garden.

I tend to bend or squat while working in the garden and I almost always end up with a sore back. Sit or kneel in one area and complete your gardening task – weeding, planting, pruning before moving to another area of the garden. This will also help conserve your energy and kneeling or using a kneeler seat will help your back too.

Moving heavy plants and other heavy objects

When it comes to landscaping your yard with new trees, shrubs or plants – perhaps large plants or ones in containers always try to move them with a wheelbarrow.

Tip the wheelbarrow forward as close to the plant as possible. Then gently rotate the pot or ball of plant onto the wheelbarrow. Slowly bring the wheelbarrow into standing position (keep your knees bend while you do this to easy your back). Carefully move the plant to it’s destination and reverse the process to get the plant off the wheelbarrow.

If you were thinking ahead and already dug a hole for the plant you might be able to move it right off the wheelbarrow and into it’s new hole!

If you have to lift a heavy item squat down, get a good grip and use your legs to lift. Don’t use your back or you’ll risk injuring your back. If there is someone else around to help you move heavy plants don’t hesitate to ask for help.

Work on one project at a time

I’m guilty of starting several projects at once and then feeling compelled to finish all of them before I stop gardening for the day. Don’t be like me – start one project at a time and finish it before moving on to another project whether it’s planting your annuals or planting seeds or seedlings or digging holes for your new roses. One job at a time.

Take a moment to decide which task needs to be given priority. Perhaps one task will take a lot longer than an other or your plants are desperately in need of care. Decide which job needs to be done first and start it. This can keep you from overdoing it and you might feel more satisfied with yourself when you complete the task rather than having several unfinished jobs on the go.

Listen to your body!

Yet another rule that I’m guilty of not following. I push myself in the garden even when I’m not feeling well or when my back is in full on spasms. I just will not go inside until I’m finished whatever I started. (I am getting a little better at listening this year as I try to plan smaller tasks).

Your body will tell you when it’s had enough. Listen to it. Muscles aching? Feeling tired? Sit back and take a break or stop your work for the day.

If you drink water while working in the garden you’ll remain well hydrated and well hydrated muscles will cramp less.

Don’t forget to stretch once you are done working in the garden. Stretching will help reduce muscle soreness and keep your more flexible. Once inside take a shower or a long soak in the bath tub to ease those muscles. Your body will thank you for it!

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