New to this forum. I have a couple of seed grown Rose of Sharon that have a distinctly pendulous, spreading form. Is this common? They have the common lavender colored flowers. Of perhaps 20 seedlings, only 1 or 2 will show this form. All the other seedlings are upright forms.

I have never seen a weeping rose of sharon in my life.
You said 1 or 2 from a group of seedlings...are you sure they are rose of sharon? Are you sure they are not just wilted for whatever reason?

If it truly is a weeping rose of sharon, I would *love* to see pictures!

Yes, I'm sure they are ROS and no they are not wilting. I have one that is several years old. Not fully "weeping" but definitely with branches that grow downward instead of straight up. Will try to post a pic.

Some H. syriacus "strains" (for lack of better terms) exhibit a bushier, more spreading habit than the the usual columnar one. This has been used as a starting point to breed cultivars such as 'Minerva' and 'Oiseau bleu'. This habit is not consistent among plants propagated from seeds, but that's what selective breeding is there for.

It would be interesting to learn what are the parents of your plants, or at least from which mother plant they were taken.

Thanks chickie! I have no idea what the parentage is. These are just random mutations from the common pale lavender/pinkish purple variety. I've been allowing some of the (thousands) of seedlings that pop up every year to mature a bit to select for this spreading habit, but otherwise doing nothing with it. I've noticed these tend not to be as long-lived as the common upright form, but they are very handsome plants. I will look at 'Minerva' and 'Oiseua bleu' to see if they are similar.

Annie... Do you mean something similar to the form on this one. It would be the althea at the right side of the window. The lavender in the background.



That one weeps because it is a bush type and also is not grafted.
When bare in the winter, it almost looks like it could be upright. Once the leaves and flowers start to fill in it just flops. It will never be a upright althea. Pruning does not help the situation.

May your week be simply fun and peaceful.

Hi Althea, No, mine are more treelike with spreading horizontal branches, slightly contorted. I need to post a pic.

Would love to see photos

This is NOT my photo, but it looks exactly like 2 that I have. All the other ones are treelike.

Altheabyanothername said:Annie... Do you mean something similar to the form on this one. It would be the althea at the right side of the window. The lavender in the background.



That one weeps because it is a bush type and also is not grafted.
When bare in the winter, it almost looks like it could be upright. Once the leaves and flowers start to fill in it just flops. It will never be a upright althea. Pruning does not help the situation.

May your week be simply fun and peaceful.