Where are you located? Rose of Sharon is very rigorous - I think it is establishing roots and should be fine next year.

Sorry, I'm in Ontario, zone 5-6. We've had buckets of rain his year - the earwig population has exploded!

I'm using ROS in a mixed border for informal privacy screening. The plants are only about two foot tall now.

I am in Buffalo NY - very close to you! I am not an expert but I have planted many ROS. I think your ROS will be fine. An example - we recently moved and my DD gave me two ROS last year. They sat in a bucket of water for almost 3 months. I planted them when we (& I think you) had very little rain and they look great this year.

What is Triple Mix and did you fill the hole with it? Could be the source of your problem. Shrubs and trees should be planted only in the soil they will grow in.

I will second what Laceyvail said. The changes in texture between native soil and any type of "improved" soil or potting mix can lead to issues with water movement or with roots remaining in the planting hole. So for example, if one has native clay soil, often it functions like a bathtub with the water remaining for long periods of time in the planting hole with the looser, more organic potting soil.

I have good loam and the soil I purchased (not actually "triple" mix) was delivered by a landscape supply company with a good reputation. It's topsoil, compost, sand and peat.

None of the other plants I've put into the bed so far have any objection to it (another ROS, burning bush, butterfly bush, clematis, wiegela, false indigo.) Unless I find something good in the fall sales, I'm filling in the rest (it's a 70-foot bed) in the spring with divisions from my crowded, existing beds.

If you did the whole bed in the mix or used the mix as a top layer, it most likely won't be an issue. If you filled just the planting hole, it might well be an issue. I'd stick my finger several inches deep in the hole around the new plant and see if moisture is an issue so that you know for sure. Generally speaking, amendments belong on the surface so that you avoid soil texture changes.

It's definitely wet, but not soaked. We've had a lot of rain so there is no way it's dry down there. But not puddling or anything.

did you plant a leaf out plant in the heat of summer???

if so.. are you surprised it is stressed .. and sacrificing some interior leaves??? .. btw.. a pic would be worth a thousand words of speculation ...

so.. if its stressed ... exactly how would moving it .. and stressing it further help???

you are trying to love it to death ... if its retaining ANY leaves.. you are on the cusp of success .. dont screw it up ...

though shrubs dont need to be fed .. like children ... also ... you cant treat them like children.. int he sense that if one is doing ok.. they should all .. it independent of the second.. so dont go comparing them.. and saying one is a total failure... because it isnt doing exactly what the other is ...

these are one of the plants i call.. run them over with the truck plants ... hard to kill ... so dont go loving it to death ...

as long as it retains leaves thru fall leaf fall.. you should probably be all set come spring ... keep in mind.. when its a big ball of love.. it wont have interior leaves .. go figure on that ...

see link about planting in native soil ... but again ... if its retaining a majority of its leaves.... its a minor issue.. imo ... and also.. at the link.. review proper watering .... and keep in mind.. as night temps start falling in fall ... it simply wont need as much water ....

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

I'm not watering it. We get rain every day. It's relatively close to the house's downspout (about 6 feet), but there is a french drain/gravel between that and this bed. Here's a pic.

Thanks, all. I was worried because all this yellowing happened over just a few days. I ran some errands just now and stopped by two nurseries on the way. The ones with knowledgeable "plant ladies" :)

One told me this was an iron deficiency (which I've read about elsewhere), the other said it was transplant stress. One said to use bonemeal and good soil, the other said to not bother with bonemeal and line the hole with compost.
I swear the more people you ask the more confusing it gets! (I use bonemeal AND compost on everything, but I've never had a rose of sharon before.)

I swear the more people you ask the more confusing it gets!

That's because people are individuals and everyone has had different paths to success and failure in their own micro-climate. So use people's responses as guidelines and develop your own mantra :-)

Notice it is only the older foliage going yellow. So transplant shock is by far the most likely reason. Plants sacrifice some leaves when they are stressed. Don't line the hole with compost. Just be patient. I'm sure it's going to be fine.