Decades ago, I planted one rose of Sharon shrub in the yard. Back then I didn’t know it wasn’t native or that it could be invasive.
Soon little rose of Sharon shrubs were popping up all over, and in a few years at least five were blooming at the same time. They have copious trumpet-shaped flowers reminiscent of hibiscus, and can be pink, white, blue, and magenta.
Mine are pink and white and have a dark red center from which a tube of white stamens emanates. Stamens are the plant parts that make and hold pollen.
This plant, native to Asia, blooms in late summer, lasting through September, adding color to the backyard as other early blooming plants are fading.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds migrate through northern Illinois just in time to discover the rose of Sharon blooms teeming with nectar. Many times in August, I’ve seen a hummingbird hover above the plant with its tongue extended into the blossoms. The bees love the plant, too. This time of year, I can peer inside to see bees brushed with pollen.
Most of my yard is filled with native plants, and I belong to native plant gardener groups on Facebook. Some have advised me and others to get rid of the disgraceful invader rose of Sharon. I get it, but I’m just not ready to cut them all down. And yet, I could certainly replace them with native viburnums and dogwoods.
I have at least 75 native plants in my yard, and some also offer nectar to hummingbirds and bees. My cardinal flowers and trumpet creepers are blooming right now, which the hummers and insects love. But the cardinal flower is so much more difficult to grow and much less prolific than the rose of Sharon.
Then I think about Queen Anne’s lace, a lovely, lacy white flower blooming all over the country. It’s beautiful, but it’s not native and invades prairies. When a Park District employee told me she was removing Queen Anne’s lace from a native plant area, I congratulated her.
A woman once said that removing the Queen Anne’s lace is a bad idea because it attracts butterflies. I reminded her of all the other native plants that could replace it and which also offer food to butterflies.
Am I being a hypocrite allowing my rose of Sharon to grow? There’s a lesson here, one that a botanist taught me. Not all nonnative plants are equal. Some, like teasel and buckthorn, are absolutely devastating to our native ecosystems, stifling the growth of plants needed for native creatures to thrive.
I’ve seen a lovely sedge meadow in Lake County completely taken over by teasel. Forest preserve districts and natural area managers are removing buckthorn because it creates a monoculture where nothing else can grow.
Teasel and buckthorn are on the Illinois list of invasive species that are difficult to remove and harm the environment. Callery pear has just been added to that list; it is encroaching on natural lands, and it will be illegal to sell come Jan.1, 2027.
Rose of Sharon is not on that list. Perhaps that is because it is easier to tame than the others, and because cultivars are now being sold that don’t spread.
The rose of Sharon is a powerful spiritual symbol, a metaphor for beauty, humility, and grace. I hope I can gracefully navigate through the world of native plants and have the humility to admit that no one knows all the right answers when it comes to the complex world of nature.
However, we must keep learning and striving to save our native ecosystems, including removing certain plants that threaten those ecosystems.
Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the Chicago Tribune and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment, and co-author of a coming book on “Birds of the Midwest,” to be published by Timber Press in 2027. Send story ideas and thoughts to sheryldevorewriter@gmail.com.
