Whacked Philadelphus virginal

**"* D* <m*@gmail.com>**

Well, then, tomorrow I will do more than take out a fourth of it. I shall
whack it like a forsythia - local gardeners find that a good whacking makes
many non-blooming perennial shrubs and vines such as wisteria bloom again.
Their theory is that the plant's survival is threatened and it is triggered
to make seeds to survive, ergo flowers.
So much to learn, Martha in Muskogee

On 9/15/07, Doug Green <d.green@xplornet.com> wrote:
>
> Dirr says they can be cut to the ground.  And given their propensity to
> be a fast-growing shrub, I'd be really tempted to not feed them other
> than a shovel of compost in the fall or spring.  Overfeeding is going to
> make them grow big, fast, lush without a heavy bloom.
>
> Doug
>
> On Sat, 2007-15-09 at 17:01 -0500, Molly Day wrote:
> > I did a quick internet search because ours has also been in the ground
> for 5
> > years without flowering. BBC gardening calls it a beginner's plant and
> maybe
> > so but not so much with the flowering part.
> > At the Master Gardener's Conference in Little Rock AK this year I saw
> one in
> > bloom and it increased my interest in coaxing flowers. Bloom food made
> no
> > difference. Ours is planted in the same general light, water, etc.
> situation
> > as the full-of-flowers one I saw.
> >
> > Equally frustrated and equally out of ideas, I think I'll follow the BBC
> > advice and cut it back. That method makes other perennial shrubs such as
> > fortsythia bloom.
> >
> > "Time to prune: July to August . . .To keep plants in shape, cut back
> shoots
> > to a strong buds every year after flowering. On older plants, also
> remove
> > roughly a quarter of the oldest branches each year to encourage new
> growth.
> > ."
> > Martha in Muskogee
> >
> > On 9/15/07, loisdan@juno.com <loisdan@juno.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Folks,
> > >
> > > Any suggestions? We've had our Philadelphus Virginal for five years
> and
> > > it has never bloomed. Tried superphosphate this year -- nothing. At
> first
> > > we thought, it might be "not enough sun" until I went on Gardenweb,
> where
> > > there was a whole lot of conjecture about the virginal strain being no
> > > good, about Wayside plants not growing, etc., etc., etc. My husband
> says
> > > pull it out, but it is a lush and beautiful mature shrub at this point
> > > and I'm very determined to make it bloom!
> > >
> > > I've heard either full sun or part shade is OK. My Lily-of-the-Valley
> > > struggle with too much light in the same spot, and the Iris bloom, so
> I
> > > was thinking I had enough light. We are really, really frustrated.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Lois de Vries
> > > Visit http://loisdevries.blogspot.com
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