I have 2 Rose of Sharon bushes and I usually keep them trimmed back to a reasonable height but one spring they got ahead of me and I was a little intense when I pruned them. Chopped them to within a foot of their lives.
I tossed the limbs into a pile of other sticks and branches. A few days later I noticed there were morning glory vines coming up in a large container that lives outside year round. I think there were some hyacinth bean vines in there as well. So I grabbed a long branched limb from the pile of tossed branches, angled the end of it a little bit so that it poked into the pot more easily and I had an instant trellis for the vines to climb. About the same time I watered the little vine seedlings.
Some time later, maybe a week, I glanced at the pot and realized the branch had a lot of foliage. I thought the vines had grown quickly since it was so green but when I looked closer I realized it was the 'trellis' that had leafed out. That branch was from the Rose of Sharon bush that I'd pruned; it was growing in the container. It continued to grow and so did the vines. By August I had big white ROS blooms along with the magenta hyacinth bean vine blooms and the huge blue MG blooms. Almost looked like a red, white and blue 4th of July tree. I have no pictures because it was before my digital camera days but it was amazingly beautiful.
I didn't keep the tree in the pot during winter, I was afraid the growth of its roots might crack the pot, plus I usually cover those pots I leave outside year round. But for one long hot summer, it sure was pretty. I almost hated to toss that tree but I knew for sure I would have more where that one came from. I don't think it matters what time of year it is, you can root a ROS anytime and with little or no effort.
Beautiful article, Tee! One of my favorite plants.
