![]() Cotton root rot is mainly a problem in alkaline soils. Althaeas are cold hardy over most of the nation.Ībout the only serious problem is cotton root rot, which can kill plants of any age, and for which there is no practical control. Propagation from cuttings is usually preferred, because unlike seedlings, rooted cuttings will be exactly like their parents. Several kinds have dark-colored centers in the flowers, and single-flowering types are quite common. Thomas Jefferson grew them from seed, and was documented to have planted them at all three of his homes.Ĭolors range from white to pink, lavender, and reddish purple. The Chinese used the flowers and leaves for food. Native to China and India, they have been cultivated as long as records exist. They thrive in the heat of summer and require only occasional deep watering to keep them growing and blooming. The cuttings were usually ready to transplant the next fall.Īlthaeas grow quickly and need little attention. ![]() Anyone who seriously wanted a plant could root 10- to 12-inch stems during the winter by putting them into any good garden soil, and watering them every few days if rain was lacking. ![]() From May through most of the summer it was laden with double, fluffy pink flowers. It must have been fifteen feet tall and almost as wide. My memory is of a huge double-pink specimen planted at the side of my grandmother’s home in south central Texas. They were once one of the most popular ornamental shrubs in our region. Ost Southerners have childhood memories of althaeas. Texas Cooperative Extension, The Texas A&M University System, College Station, Texas.īy Dr. Welch, and produced by Extension Horticulture, This article appeared in the July 2002 web issue of Horticulture Update,Įdited by Dr. Althaea, Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus Syriacus RETURN TO
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