Many, many moons ago, I blogged about my Rose of Sharon. After all, it was a small tree that bloomed for about two months in the summer. Gotta love that, right??? Wrong!!!
That garden-variety Rose of Sharon started out as a seedling from a friend. We grew it into a single trunk (aka small tree) instead of the usual shrub. It turned out to be the notorious seed-dropper from Hell. I refuse to even show you how pretty it was because that beauty kept enticing me to keep it, even though I was constantly picking out the seedlings.
And I really do mean constantly – spring, summer, and fall. The seedlings probably came up in winter just to spite me, but I refused to go looking for them in the Chicagoland snow and cold.
Now enter the cultivated Rose of Sharon. Ah!!! In my case, it’s Pink Chiffon from Proven Winners. It started flowering in July and is still going strong in September, Most of the blooms are near the top now, but thats ok. Let’s give it credit for doing so much in just year two. Plus the bees and butterflies absolutely love it.
July…
September…
I mean, really – a small tree that blooms most of the summer. What a find!
Pink Chiffon is sterile, so I get all the beauty without bending down to pick out the seedlings, which I may have mentioned were constant. Constant!
Pink Chiffon fits perfectly into my low-maintenance mantra of late. We spent over $200 to get a 5′ tree instead of a shrub. It’s even worse than that – I wanted it badly enough to buy two of them.
And as I look out my window, I couldn’t be happier with my investment in beauty and ease.
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