Malvaceae week 0905-9112011 UD 011 Hibiscus syriacus Rose of Sharon Small tree
ushadi Micromini
Malvaceae week 0905-9112011 UD 011 Hibiscus syriacus Rose of Sharon Small tree
Dear All:
1: Unlike the tropical Hibiscus this Rose of Sharon grows in the cold freezing winters, tolerated
snow that hangs around for 2- 3 months, sometimes longer… grows into a small tree, over 20 to 30 years
that I have seen … may be longer…
2: This is a biblical tree: Song of Solomon 2:1 of Old Testament
“ I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.”
The valley being in the modern middle eastern regions…
3: Many years ago
I saw an exhibit of botanical drawings
of these flowers of the garden of Chateau de Malmaison, Josephine’s gardens… the
drawings were by Pierre Joseph Redouté …
the delicacy of the colors he chose has stayed with me… during the same week I also saw a real life Rose of Sharon tree and its white flowers… Redouté ‘s Rose of Sharon and real live Rose of Sharon… sort of merged… and
so I was very surprised to see deep pink and violet flowers… couldn’t believe
it… reference books told me it was ok to have these colors…
Familia: Malvaceae
Subfamilia: Malvoideae
Tribus: Hibisceae
Genus: Hibiscus
Species: Hibiscus syriacus
These trees were planted about 20 years ago, in a valley 70 miles north of NY… in a peaceful meadow … judge for yourself in fig 1 … These is white flowered tree and other has deep pink flowers that change to magenta to violet as they age and close…
I have never seen fruits on these trees… overall height is about 10 feet now, but the gardener had lopped off the tops several times during the summer… if he had not , no telling how tall they would have become…
The last picture is white Rose of Sharon I photographed thru the windshield while waiting to turn into the street … that tree is also about 15-18 year old, and lopped off several times….
Enjoy
Usha di
Balkar Arya
Regards
Dr Balkar Singh
Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology
Arya P G College, Panipat
Haryana-132103
09416262964