My folks gave me their ROS late last winter. I planted it immediately and it did fine this summer...blooms were lovely. However, it seemed to bloom more on one side than the other. I figured it wasn't getting enough sun and moved it about a month ago to an area that receives more direct sunlight. It survived another transplanting w/o dropping a leaf..in fact, it has put out more leaves since I moved it. Looks very healthy. If I'm not mistaken, ROS likes full sun. My mother-in-law has quite a few ROS' on her property that could safely be called TREES...huge things, loaded with blooms every year. The ones that have grown to tree-like proportions are those that receive lots of sun. She has others on the property growing in dappled shade, and they're quite a bit smaller.
So, to answer your question, yea...it will probably get bigger if it's in more sun and isn't being crowded by other plants. Just make sure to give it loads of water after you move it.

Renee

Karen, I think you can expect better growth with the new conditions you describe. I'm no plant scientist to make that determination b/c what you are describing is a much more happy circumstance for most flowering shrubs. I bet hydrangea would do well there too.

I have a tree-form ROS in part to full sun. It is doing very well, growing slowly as I prefer. It is however plagued by Japanese Beetles for most of the summer. I dust with Sevin, but wish I didn't have to, as it is not always attractive and not totally effective.

claire in sanford

Thanks, guys. I think I'll go ahead. Really, it can't stay where it is or it'll be morphed into ligustrum!

Claire, funny you have japanese beetles on yours. I've never seen them on mine, but the blooms are always swarming in ants.

Karen

i had one in our backyard, which mostly only gets morning sun, that was about 5 or 6" in diameter at its base and 20-25' tall. fran knocked it over, we righted it, but it never quite was straight after that. couple more bad storms through the yrs and we gave up & cut it down. the others around it are almost as tall-15-20', but the bases are only in the 3-4" range. i believe they were probably planted many many yrs ago- more than 20, maybe even when the house was built in '61. i know the people before us wouldn't have, and we didn't, so that takes it back at least 17 or 18 yrs.

don't be shocked if after you move yours you notice a few shoots coming up where it had been a few weeks or mos later. they'll come back from any part of a root. really, they are hard to kill. they're great because you can prune them to keep them in a shape or at a certain size, but you can also let them take their natural shape. they'll bloom for you either way. i keep the ones up front small by taking back the branches a 3rd or more of the way in the fall or winter. i try to stagger it in a natural way and you really can't tell when they begin growth again come spring. they bloom on new wood, so you can prune up til it leafs out & a little beyond.

japanese beetles usually will take on any member of the hibiscus family happily. mine aren't bothered much in the back yard, but the few i have up front get laced up pretty good.

might be a good time to move it after its leaves have dropped. then you wouldn't have to worry so much about the water situation- they are thirsty buggers. if you haven't been watering a lot or it's not in a naturally wettish area, that can stunt it.