Althea bush a.k.a. Rose of Sharon a.k.a. Hibiscus syriacus
Warning: It multiplies like rabbits
Given to me for my new yard long ago by sister Kay - an old
fashioned shrub (kinda like Kay), the Althea bush is very hardy. It drops its leaves in the fall and spends
the winter just a skeleton of its summer self. By July it is covered in green
leaves and buds and pink and purple flowers.
It seems the old timey plants were much more hardy than the
ones we can get today at the local Lowe's (many of which I have killed over the
years). These strong ones bloom every year, like the forsythia (yellow bells) and day
lilies brought here by my parents from their yard in Blue Ridge, which in turn probably came
from Mother Hanie's yard in Ellenwood.
Now that my girls both have houses of their own, it is time
to pass some of these down.
