| Description | A medium to large shrub for full sun areas of the yard. Flowers late in the summer when few other shrubs are blooming. There are dozens of cultivars available |
|---|---|
| Plant Type | All Plants, Shrubs Deciduous |
| Hardiness Zone | 5-8 |
| Sunlight | prefers full sun, tolerates some shade |
| Moisture | prefers moist, tolerates average, hates dry |
| Soil & Site | average |
| Temperature | In Zone #5 it has winter killed for me. |
| Flowers | Flowers are perfect and 5 petaled. A large pallet of colors including, pink, white, purple, violet. Fruit forms a persistent brown capsule with valves. Blooms end of July through September. |
| Leaves | alternate, palmately veined, three lobes |
| Dimensions | This shrub or small tree is listed as reaching around 8-12' in height by 6-10' spread. I have seen some that may have reached this size in southeastern Wisconsin, but most seem to be smaller because of winterkill. |
| Maintenance | Flowers are produced on current season new wood. Pruning in the spring promotes more branching and can improve the number of flowers. The leaves can be slow to emerge so give it a chance before you declare that some areas are dead. |
| Propagation | seeds, cuttings |
| Native Site | China |
| Cultivar Origin | Reported to be grown in England in the 16th century. This plant was first discovered in Syria, but it is native to China. |
| Misc Facts | Species name syriacus derived from the country of discovery. |
| Author's Notes | Although this plant will have winter kill, I still use this in my garden because of its late flowering. A friend on mine has seedling appearing all over her yard from this plant. (Notes update 2014) I have been in the landscape business for over 35 years. Back in the 1970's and 80's when I used this plant it seemed to be a bit touchy. Currently I have changed my view on these plants and they are much hardier, because of the climate change where I live. We have warmed up at least 1/2 hardiness zone. |
| Notes & Reference | #01-Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Michael Dirr), #03-The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs (Hillier Nursery), #55-The Garden Book for Wisconsin (Melinda Myers) |
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