Hibiscus syriacus Althea, Rose of Sharon Plant Type Deciduous Size 8-12’ high and 6-10’ wide Form Upright shrub, small tree Texture Medium Foliage Alternate, simple, coarse teeth, 2-4” long, 3 lobes, egg to diamond shaped, medium to dark green upper and lighter beneath, rounded at the base, palmately veined, petiole ¼-3/4” Stem Gray, rounded Bark Gray Buds Not visible Flowers and Fruit 5 petals, white, red, purple, violet shades, 2- 4” single or double on new growth, June to September. Fruit is a ¾” brown capsule, persisting into winter Fall Color Yellow Exposure Sun to part shade Soil Moist, well drained, pH. 5.0-6.5 Growth Rate Medium Hardiness 5-8 Uses Groupings, masses, mixed shrub border, good for late summer flowering Maintenance Leaf spots, cankers, aphis, Japanese beetle, whitefly. Prune in early spring. Provide plants with medium fertility. Plants are tough durable and heat and drought tolerant Cultivars ‘Amplissimus’- double red flowered form ‘Aphrodite’- dark pink flowers with red eye, 4-5” across ‘Blue Chiffon’- light blue double flowers, 3-4” across ‘Blushing Bride’- nice pink flowers ‘Colle Mullens’- purple-lavender double ‘Diana’- large white flowers ‘Helene’- flowers are white, reddish purple at the base ‘Jeanne D’Arc’- white double flowers ‘Lucy’- double red flowers ‘Minerva’- lavender flowers with a dark red eye, 4-5” across ‘Purple Pillar’- 2-3’ wide columnar, 10-15’ tall, purple flowers ‘Red Heart’- white flowers with a red eye ‘Woodbridge’- rose pink with a red eye Many more cultivars Notes: © 2018 National Association of Landscape Professionals .