they like full sun, they are hardy (though I can see them needing protection from the wind in winter- it's hard to believe you and I are in the same zone!) they are invasive in the sense that they do reseed, and you will find yourself with 50 babies 5 years from now...

mine got 18 feet tall, and while I never thought to prune them, I have seen plenty of people force them into all sorts of shapes- round balls and standards tend to be popular.

Hello, I live in zone 7 , LI,NY and have a row of Rose of Sharon about 15 to 25" high running along my back fence about 100' long to block out a noisy neighbor. We prune them every three years or so which is quite a job ... the more you prune them ( top and sides ) the thicker and more dense they get. My mother in law had them years ago to block off some old cars in a back driveway about 10' high and super dense like a privet hedge. I have heard you prune them in March in my zone so you get flowers but I have pruned in the heat of summer and nothing kills them. Rose of Sharon is very invasive. The dried flower pods germinate all over in the spring and I pull them out like weeds. Mine are also planted in other parts of the yard in sun ,shade, and partial sun ... they are like IRON! Hubbie and I went to a very fancy gardening show at a old estate and we noticed the landscape designers were using them in gardens. They were very popular when I was a kid and I guess they are coming back. Not really my favorite shrub but they do come in different colors and we even have a old one with ruffles in hot pink that looks like a small peony. Best of luck with them.

Chinacat - where do you live? Thanks to both of you - you answered a lot of questions. Do you think it would be safe to find them a semi-permanent place, maybe along our outside garage wall, and leave them outside there for the winter? Then next spring, we could decide where to put them permanently. I sure wouldn't want them to die off after all the trouble I had getting them to sprout!! Also, I have heard that if you watch for the bush to form the pods and then pick them off before they have a chance to throw their seeds around, it's easier to keep them under control. We have a lot of evergreen bushes out in the front yard which my husband keeps pruned, and I am always teasing him about making them into the shape of a horse. Now I can really tease him into making these into some kind of animal!!! Thanks again.

I'm just upriver from Philadelphia :)

and yes, when they are young, they are very transplantable- I have ripped (rather than dug) them up, left them lying around for 20 minutes, then stuck them in a pile of dirt, and had them survive :)

while picking the seed pods on a young tree is a possiblity (though as tedious as trapping japanese beetles by hand) when it gets taller than you are- it becomes something of a bother ;)

at least you know you will never run out of them, once they start seeding themselves ;)

I love this shrub and have three small starts that I planted along my fence line. Only now, my neighbor informed me that she hates them and is constantly battling them coming into her yard from her neighbor on the other side. She said she won't mind them if I keep them under control. Is this something that can even be done? Or should I move them?

I have a shady spot btwn her driveway and my house that gets midday sun. It is contained almost completely by cement. Would that be a good spot for them? I would love it if someone said yes because when they get tall enough they may offer me some privacy from neighbor's windows. could their roots damage my foundation or her driveway?