Mock Orange care
We have had a mock orange bush for 3 years and it's never bloomed. It looks great and hearty but no blooms. Any ideas?
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
I've never grown one myself, but what I read about them says full sun. A lot of shrubs that are rated for full sun will grow just fine in less, but not bloom. So that's the first thing I thought of. Tell us more about what conditions your shrub is in and how you treat it, watering, fertilizing, pruning etc.
Mock orange blooms on last year's wood, so if you prune in fall or spring, you are cutting the buds off and it won't bloom. If you've been pruning it, just leave it alone for a year.
Is it in a lawn? Is the lawn fertilized? Lawn fertilizer is usually high in nitrogen. But the N, encourages plant growth (foliage) at the expense of flowering (with grass we don't care, since we want the leaves, not the flowers).
If none of these sound right, then tell us more about the conditions....
Mock orange blooms on last year's wood, so if you prune in fall or spring, you are cutting the buds off and it won't bloom. If you've been pruning it, just leave it alone for a year.
Is it in a lawn? Is the lawn fertilized? Lawn fertilizer is usually high in nitrogen. But the N, encourages plant growth (foliage) at the expense of flowering (with grass we don't care, since we want the leaves, not the flowers).
If none of these sound right, then tell us more about the conditions....
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wingdesigner
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 2036
- Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 4:58 pm
- Location: Michigan--LP(troll)
I concur--it needs more sunlight. I had one that got about six hours in the morning and bloomed just fine--until the neighbour's tree overshadowed it. It's too old to move, but it threw out a branch that got buried under leaf detrius and it threw up a new one! So that's getting transplanted this fall out from under the tree to a sunnier spot right in front of the window, where it's sweet perfume can waft in. I root-pruned it already, so it should be ready to go this fall.
Moral of the story is: if you can prune away something that is shading it, do so; or if it's young enough to be moved, do so. Otherwise, you might try taking a shoot near the base that's still pliable, bend it carefully down to the ground and put a couple inches of dirt and leaves over the end foot or so, keep it moist as if it were a transplant, and see what happens. I actually didn't notice anything last fall, but when I went to prune it this year I saw about five or six shoots coming up, about two feet away from the parent plant.
Moral of the story is: if you can prune away something that is shading it, do so; or if it's young enough to be moved, do so. Otherwise, you might try taking a shoot near the base that's still pliable, bend it carefully down to the ground and put a couple inches of dirt and leaves over the end foot or so, keep it moist as if it were a transplant, and see what happens. I actually didn't notice anything last fall, but when I went to prune it this year I saw about five or six shoots coming up, about two feet away from the parent plant.