Rose of sharon flowers on new growth in the spring. There are a couple of options for pruning. 1. if they are too big for your taste in the summer, wait until after the bloom to trim them back. Don't do like my mother in law does and sever the plant right before it blooms. 2. other option, and best i think, is to just cut them back in early spring before they start growing. If they are 10 feet tall, you could head them back to 5 or 6 foot tall in April. It will send out new shoots, then flower buds later. Its such an easy plant to grow, the only reason i can think of why they might not be flowering so well, is if they are getting more shade. Larger, mature trees put out growth and change lighting conditions for other plants, sometimes its hard to notice.

Hello: Yes, I wrote the articles and a book on insects. Granular Marathon doesn't smell at all. I will check MSDS data on danger for birds and get back with you. Or you can just do a search. Write in Imidacloprid msds and see what it says about birds and fish. I think the recommended "dose" is 1/4 teaspoon. I have used this a few times and use much, much less per plant. I simply sprinkle a little on top the soil, then with a turkey baster, I water the plant. About 7 days later I water again with turkey baster and repeat a third time 7 days later. This is so the chemical stays in the pot and does not run out the bottom. After three waterings with clear warm water, you should feel free of bugs and protected for a while. It is advisable to treat all plants, planted leaves, babies, starters and mature plants. If you took a leaf which touched the soil that had soil mealies, you may have taken eggs or a bug with the leaf and it would now be in with that planted leaf. To be completely clean and not to reinfect your collection, treat everything. I just sprinkle all around the plant which means larger plants get more chemical. I would not advise just putting Marathon into your soil mix mainly because you won't know how much to put in what quantity of soil. I don't know if touching Marathon with bare hands is a good idea. Imidacloprid is a chemical and they should receive the utmost respect. I would not put the granules half way in the pot then put the plant in because as you water, the clay pellets release the chemical. If it is located half way down it doesn't have far to go to run out the bottom. Until you do a msds research keep the bird out of the plant room. Nancy

The only problem with pruning roses seems to be if there is a freeze following pruning that could cause damage to the new growth. Some just wait until it starts our early spring season to see what damage has been done before pruning in the spring. Roses need to be pruned anyway just to keep them the size and shape you enjoy.

You wait til about now for old stems to leaf out. In zone 6A your old stems likely didn't survive anyway (last two winters were bad), so no harm done. Forever & Ever original ('Early Sensation') is a dud in my opinion - in northern climates it barely ever blooms and for me never reached more than 18" tall. Some of the other F&E plants are a bit more reliable. And hollow stems? If those are on any hydrangea, they're probably dead. Ant traffic means not much. They forage for nutrients and are not dead wood feeders like Sow bugs.