Low-Stress Charm
In the heat of summer, your garden can end up looking a little rough and dull. You need a plant that brings a refreshing look all through summer, something that can take the heat and drought the season brings. White Chiffon® rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) brings a clean, elegant beauty to the summer garden, and this tough shrub requires very little maintenance to keep it shining.
In summer, White Chiffon® rose of Sharon’s long branches are dotted with abundant pure white blooms adorned with frilly centers that give them an anemone-like look. Its graceful, upright habit makes this beauty a lovely choice for a specimen plant or a foundation planting, and at a height of 8-12’ and a width of 6-10’, it looks stunning as a flowering hedge or screen.
White Chiffon® is one tough shrub, handling deer, heat, drought, sidewalk salt, and black walnut with ease. It’s also not finicky with soil, as long as it’s well-drained. It’s cold hardy to USDA zone 5 and heat tolerant to USDA zone 9 and thrives in full sun.
This gorgeous shrub doesn’t require regular pruning as it maintains its upright habit on its own, but if you’d like to do any shaping, do so in early spring. It benefits from an application of fertilizer each spring after the soil has thawed.
Why Is My Hydrangea Flopping?
After waiting months to see our hydrangeas bloom, it’s a bit disheartening to see them flopped over. Kristina goes over the three main reasons a hydrangea may flop and how to fix it in her “3 Reasons a Hydrangea Flops” blog. You can also watch the video below, where she explains the reasons and demonstrates how to fix your flopping hydrangea.