1 to 3 years ... to settle in and grow the roots they need to flower ...

were they potted? .. how were they planted ...

i suspect the only problem here is some level of instant gratification ... the first year after planting.. all i hope for is that they lived thru winter ... sooner or later ... flowering will flower ...

im not sure 3 hours will be enough sun ... but it depends how bright it is otherwise ... shade is such a hard thing to define in words ... you just plant things.. and find out..

ken

btw.. they are getting over a huge stress... they are not hungry ...fert is never the answer ...

and since this is basically a weed shrub ... as in 'grows like a weed' ... personally i would never fert them...ever...

ken

Thanks ken-adrian. They were not potted - got them from the nursery and planted them in the ground with compost and rich soil.

I have Roses of Sharon that have been in the ground for well over 10 years, and they haven't gotten buds yet - don't worry.

Rose of Sharon does not need many years, certainly not 10, to bloom. I might not worry, but I would be checking how much sun it gets and not fertilizing at all. Really, most should bloom within 2 to 3 years of planting; they are fast growing and heaven knows, very prolific seeders. They are not stingy bloomers

OP: Supervise that landscaper. Make sure he's pruning what you tell him he can prune or have him tell you his plans. A rose of sharon can take it, but if he prunes a plant that blooms on last year's growth you'll be upset.

Today I looked at Sugartip ROS planted last fall I'd guess it is a 5 yr old plant. It has buds.

Often shrubs will have buds when they arrive from the nursery and will bloom the first year, but then take a year or two or three of no blossoms or few blossoms before going back to blooming more vigorously. As Ken said, they need to grow roots and get established. It didn't help that your landscaper pruned them so that they have shorter branches and fewer leaves to generate food than they would have unpruned. So I'd second Marie's comment that the landscaper needs careful watching and instruction since a new shrub shouldn't be pruned, and many shrubs with early season blooms should never be fall pruned, though the second part doesn't apply to ROS.

I think Lisanti meant that his/her 10 year old ROS shrub doesn't yet have this year's buds. My memory is that here in NH they don't form buds until fairly late, though I don't currently have one to check. IME the full sun ones will be happy, and the one with 3 hours of sun will depend on when the sun is (mid-day is more intense than early or late day) and how bright the shade is. Shade from a light-colored building is often quite bright, while a dense overhanging tree may be too much shade for dense growth and good bloom on a ROS.

Barb, your understanding makes a heck of a lot more sense than mine. I was dumfounded that anyone wiuld wait for 10 years for plain old ROS to bloom; climbing hydrangea maylbe....feel kind if silly.

Mine is covered in buds but they are still very tiny. You really have to look closely.

I wouldn't recommend cutting them to the ground ;). Give them time to establish, I planted mine last year and no flower buds yet.

I planted two last July. They are still small (around 3 feet high) but plenty of buds. Some are opening now.