My Hydrangea / Rhododendron / Weigela Refuse to Flower!
I am hoping GC or other green-thumpers can solve my problem.
By all accounts I've got a nice little garden going and my plants are green and growing! This will be our 2nd summer in this area and for some UNKNOWN (and bewildering) reason, my hydrangea, rhododendrons, and weigelas have yet to produce one flower! I live in LV on Schooleys Mountain, so the rocky soil is enough to frustrate. Neighbors all over have blooming rhododendrons so the whole thing is really confounding me.
Would love to get advice or suggestions! Thank you!
LVres LVres
I'm sure others can tell you about the other plants, but Rhododendrons (like Azaleas) are acid-loving plants and should be fertilized with Mir-Acid (by Miracle Grow) or something similar. If by some chance your lawn was "limed" to help the grass and an overage of it got onto or near your Rhododendrons it could stump or (worst case scenario) kill them. The same can happen if they are planted too closely to the limestone slab stairs even, since rain, melting snow, etc. can dissolve enough of the carbonate to stunt them. That was happening with some of mine until I moved them another foot away from the steps, where they grow quite nicely now.
Phil D. LVres, have you pruned them? Rhodies, wiegela and some hydranges bloom on old wood, meaning last year's growth. If you pruned them earlier this year, they won't flower since the buds were set last year.
3wbdwnj I have not pruned them. Also, they appear very healthy, green, (weigelas are a reddish color, b/c they are wine & roses variety) but they look just fine and the rhodos have the new brighter green growth on them, too. I did sprinkle Holly Tone on the rhodos and the hydrangeas earlier in the spring and they seemed to like it.
BUT NO FLOWERS! Also there are healthy shrubs/perennials nearby them that are doing fine so I don't think there is any issues with the soil.
I apologize in advance for taking advantage of the situation -
It's your basic "green-thumper" here. ;-)
Most of my initial thought have already been covered - acid soil condition, and any trimming.
Trimming won't harm hydrangeas at all, they'll still look very healthy. But it just won't bloom if cut. I've had one that hasn't bloomed in almost 10 years. I didn't know enough not to cut it at first. Then I left it a year but someone else came along and snipped it. Then the deer got to it. Then I moved it away from where the deer could get it which disturbs if for another year, then along comes that 'help' again... Hydrangeas also eventually suffer from kind of wearing out and instead of white, blue, or pink they go all green. Still looks like flowers when it does that, so I don't think that's it either.
On the rhododendron front, the soil you definitely need to keep up with. Sounds like you did good there. But the thought I have on those hasn't been mentioned yet. The buds are like fruit trees and forsythia - what you get for flowers depends on the fall. If the fall was dry you might not get much growth, and then there is to show in spring. If there was serious cold early in fall, it can kill off the buds. There was a brief period of unexpected cold 3-4 weeks ago. When you look at the rhododendron you said you see new growth, but what about the flower buds? If there aren't any then it was in the fall that they didn't grow. If you have some but they're all shriveled up and aren't going to open, then most likely cold got to them. If you have buds, particularly if there's a hint of color to them, then they're just behind schedule and don't worry about it. Another hint that cold was in issue would be the hydrangea has black shriveled up leaves. Cold can really set those back.
I don't have or have ever grown weigela, but I took a quick look at some on-line info. A big factor in those blooming is the amount of light they get. If they're shaded they still grow, but they bloom far less. If all of these things are a bit in the shade, then it's not really a problem. All that's happening is the others you see in bloom are flowering just because they are getting more sun.
GC I have my own philosophy about plants and shrubs in that they are like people...very unpredictable! ...Last year my Rhododendron tree looked pretty sick and I was concerned. No branches cut off...nothing different except perhaps weather conditions...This year it is loaded with flowers and dark green leaves and looks gorgeous.
Joyful It took my rhododendrons and azaleas 3 years after planting to establish and get some blooms (the ones that survived deer).
Weigela Rose and Wine started to bloom third year also, I have it in full sun and shade, all bushes are usually blooming like crazy, they are just starting to bloom right now, the ones in full sun. Weigela definitely blooms on old wood. I also think that it prefers good pruning.
Lena Ok, I have just transplanted 6 plants today!
I have moved the weigelas to a sunnier spot and the rhodo to a shady/sun spot and we'll see how things go. Also moved two butterfly bushes to sunnier locale.
Wish me luck!
Those are acid loving plants get some Mir-Acid and sprinkle a whole bunch into the ground and water. Do this 3 or 4 times this year and next year you will have beautiful flowers! Also make sure you cut any dead branches off and give them a good pruning after it gets cold and next year they will be healthy and flower.
Heidi Somewhat off topic. I have a big, very old rose of Sharon that has bloomed beautifully for years. Last year it was full with leaves and got buds, but they never opened. This year it's hardly getting any leaves. My husband pruned it last fall. Any idea what could be going on?
Calico696 Calico - I lost so many bushes last winter, probably it was too dry for them without snow, and my husband was refusing to water anything during late fall and winter (probably just lazy to turn on/off vents). Different types of bushes, most of them super hardy and not requiring a lot of care. Also this year we had hard frost and freeze when bushes and trees already had buds and young leaves.
About acid-loving bushes (including blueberries) - my family drinks a lot of coffee, we collect used coffee grounds and put them under bushes (without filters, of course). Rhododendrons don't like to be re-planted because they have very shallow root system. If you move them, they will not bloom next 2 springs, they also might drop leaves regardless how great soil is for them.
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