Garden -- Rose of Sharon

It's time. Your Rose of Sharon (Syrian hibiscus) is done blooming in the DC region. Hummingbirds and pollinators that like red flowers are now going after my morning glories, which got a late start due to the cool spring, and lingered in the warm October weather.

See how the hibiscus branches are bending over? That's because of seed pods, which are getting brown and prickly.

You must cut those puppies NOW.

Otherwise in spring you will have 500 bazillion hibiscus seedlings to pull up.

You do have to pull them up. By the roots. Because as they mature, those roots will penetrate deep into the soil and be impossible to get out.

I've seen it happen. When a new neighbor arrived, she put an ad somewhere inviting people to come take away plants they liked, so she could plant other things in those places. Three different people tried to take her hibiscus. They all gave up.

So cut those hibiscus pods. It won't hurt the bushes or keep them from flowering next year. Things that flower this late, this is THE right time to prune them. Waiting until spring will reduce the number of flowers next year.

And put the cuttings in your city yard waste recycling, not in your compost heap. You don't want to risk that some of those seeds are already ripe enough to germinate in the spring.

It's also time to stop mowing your lawn. What grows from now on will keep the roots from freezing to death if we get a freezing snap.

Personally I would not bet on that; my cricket count says a mild winter except perhaps near the end. Based on the number of foggy mornings this autumn, however, we'll probably get a lot of precipitation. I soooo hope it's not snow. We've had a record 50 inches of rain just since May 15 (May 15, not March 15), which would be 500 inches of snow.  😱

 So prune hibiscus but stop mowing.