Hibiscus, Rose of Sharon, Shrub Althea 'Aphrodite'

Reading all the positive comments makes me wonder if the bush I have was identified incorrectly at the nursery! The bush we have grew un...Read Moreruly and barely bloomed. It has 2" thorns. Not at all attractive. I am in process of cutting back the many, many "suckers" and plan to dig it up this fall. We are in west Tennessee. Clay ground with poor drainage. It thrived but was less than attractive.

I have two three year old plants. This year despite the drought with only supplemental waterings they have done great.
The flowe...Read Morers are almost as large as my hardy hibiscus and the color is vivid pink. Love them and glad I brought them along from my other house.

Planted this "Aphrodite" late last year, towards the end of the growing season, here in Utah. Has doubled in height and with relatively ...Read Morelow water consumption. Excellent growth rate, took my completely by surprise. My other Rose of Sharon, Lil' Kim, is still about the same height as last year, except for some recent growth. At this rate, "Aphrodite" should be at maximum height within a couple short years.

Grows easily in drought conditions and continues to thrive on neglect. Low maintenance for sure.

I planted two of these Rose of Sharon 'Aphrodite Oct 2009 (less than 2 years ago). They have grown a few INCHES and have a lot of yellow...Read More leaves.

In Feb 2006, i planted two Rose of Sharon 'Hollandia and they are doing great. They are about 12 feet tall and blooming continuously.

This is in the same yard as the "Aphrodite, same soil, same drip system, same amount of sunlight. I know that the 'Hollandia has a three year head start but if I recall correctly they were doing much better at 2 years.

A wonderful shrub for late summer color. Very vigorous, free-blooming and hardy in my zone 5b NH garden.

Very floriferous. This is my first full year year with this shrub. I did notice that during a week plus of daily rains the
'Aph...Read Morerodite' dropped a lot of unopened buds. Closer inspection plus the desire to photograph a bloom revealed that the unopend buds dropped very easily from the slightest brushing. That was a disappointment. I think it was more the wet, cool weather than anything and it seems to not have suffered the loss of the blooms....still covered in opened blooms 2 weeks later.

Great plant will take sun, perfers hot to cool climates, but will survive freezes. Good in zones 2-24. Goes deciduous in winter and comes...Read More right back in spring. Sets few seed pods if any. It is a sterile triploid. Has a long blooming season. Late April through October in Citrus Heights Ca. Looks like a Hibiscus yet is very hardy.

This shrub has lots of very pretty flowers and is completely care free. I have it growing in light shade.