I live in northern IL so we are expecting cicadas, specifically, the Northern Illinois Brood/ Brood XIII, but not the Great Southern Brood/Brood XIX cicadas. I have read and watched videos about what to do to protect small trees that have been planted within the last 2-3 years. My lawn maintenance guy said I should protect my serviceberry tree, a small magnolia and my rhododendron, but he said I didn't need to protect my four Rose of Sharon plants. But according to my research, if the woody stem is about the diameter of a pencil or smaller, they advise you protect your plant with netting.

My Rose of Sharon plants have many stems that are thinner than a pencil. Should I cover them? Here are photos of two plants. Thanks in advance for your advice.

Saw this: https://www.nbcchicago.com/cic...

Thanks RJ. I read that NBC article and I have visited the Morton Arboretum website, among others. Some articles list Rose of Sharon among the plants that female cicadas lay their eggs.

I just came across this article that said, "Annual cicadas do not ordinarily cause much damage. Periodical cicadas damage trees above and below ground. The most obvious damage is that caused by egg laying in small twigs. This damage causes twigs to split, wither, and die, causing a symptom called "flagging." Flagging is especially serious on young plants (four years or younger) because more of the branches are of the preferred size for oviposition, 6 to 12 mm (1/4 to 1/2 inch) in diameter. Some of the more favored trees for oviposition include maple, oak, hickory, beech, ash, dogwood, hawthorn, magnolia, willow, apple, peach, cherry and pear. Flowers, vines and shrubs include: Rose of Sharon, rose, raspberry, grape, black-eyed Susan, hollies, spirea, rhododendron, viburnum, junipers, and arborvitae. More than 270 species of plants have been noted as hosts for egg laying female cicadas. Damage is also done by the nymphs that suck sap from roots. Prolonged feeding by nymphs on a tree's root system may reduce plant growth and fruit production."

So I'll probably buy more netting and cover my Rose of Sharon plants even though my lawn maintenace guy said I didn't need to. Thanks again.

https://web.archive.org/web/20...