25 hand picked, organically grown seeds per packet

Scientific name: Hibiscus syriacus  (Pronunciation: high-BISS-kuss seer-ee-AY-kuss)

Common name(s): Rose-of-Sharon, Shrub-Althea

Family: Malvaceae

USDA hardiness zones: 5B through 9A;; these seeds have been harvested in October 2021 in Missouri, zone 6b. Hummingbirds & bees really love these flowers. 

Uses: container or above-ground planter; near a deck or patio; trainable as a standard; mine are planted in my cottage garden as a focal point along the fence 

Mature Height: 8 to 12 feet at full maturity; Spread: 4 to 10 feet

Crown uniformity: symmetrical canopy with a regular (or smooth) outline, and individuals have more or less identical crown forms

Growth rate: slow

Leaf shape: ovate; rhomboid

Leaf venation: pinnate; palmate

Leaf type and persistence: deciduous

Leaf blade length: 2 to 4 inches

Leaf color: green

Flower color: lavender; pink

Flower characteristics: summer flowering; very showy

Trunk/bark/branches: bark is thin and easily damaged from mechanical impact; droop as the tree grows, and will require pruning for vehicular or pedestrian clearance beneath the canopy; routinely grown with, or trainable to be grown with, multiple trunks; not particularly showy; no thorns

Pruning requirement: needs little pruning to develop a strong structure

Breakage: susceptible to breakage either at the crotch due to poor collar formation, or the wood itself is weak and tends to break

Light requirement: tree grows in part shade/part sun; tree grows in full sun

Soil tolerances: clay; loam; sand; acidic; occasionally wet; well-drained