Hola, amigas/amigos -

I am getting rid of a bamboo that has gotten out of control.
Not spreading, but shedding those little paper-y thingies
all over the place.

I asked a landscape architect relative what to put in its
place. He suggested Rose of Sharon, which is a kind of Hibiscus.

I have had TERRIBLE luck with some exotic Hibiscus that
I bought at the Huntington plant sale years ago. Could
never control the )**^$^*& whitefly, no matter what I tried.
I do not remember what kind of Hibiscus they were; lost
the tag long ago.

So now I come to the question: Does anyone know
whether Rose of Sharon is subject to whitefly as well?
If so, no use planting it.

This is So. Calif coastal, Zone 24/8.

TIA

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 23:37:14 -0700, Persephone wrote:

So now I come to the question: Does anyone know
whether Rose of Sharon is subject to whitefly as well?
If so, no use planting it.

I've never noticed whitefly on mine, but maybe they're just not as
destructive to it as they are to softer plants.

What I do have a problem with is Japanese beetles. They don't eat
enough foliage to do any permanent damage, but they do disfigure the
flowers.

Jim Shaffer wrote:

[....]

What I do have a problem with is Japanese beetles. They don't eat
enough foliage to do any permanent damage, but they do disfigure the
flowers.

http://www.milkyspore.com/milkyspore.htm

go to the source of the beetles and break the life cycle.

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 20:35:34 -0400, Jim Shaffer
wrote:

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 23:37:14 -0700, Persephone wrote:

So now I come to the question: Does anyone know
whether Rose of Sharon is subject to whitefly as well?
If so, no use planting it.

I've never noticed whitefly on mine, but maybe they're just not as
destructive to it as they are to softer plants.

What I do have a problem with is Japanese beetles. They don't eat
enough foliage to do any permanent damage, but they do disfigure the
flowers.




Very few Japanese beetles on my Rose of Sharon this year. But, some
years ago it was a bad infestation. I used a mayo jar with 1" of
water and a little dishwashing soap in it. I held the jar under the
beetle, tapped the branch, they fall into the soapy solution and die.
Close up the jar and throw it into the trash. You can catch quite a
few beetles this way.