NO CLUE WHAT I'm DOING/Flowers never came back!?!?!?!?!

[JenaJones]

Hi there!

I am SUPER NEW to “gardeningâ€

[Kisal]

I apologize, but I'm about to head out the door with a friend in just a few minutes. I can tell you that most species of flowers only bloom at a certain time of the year. Some bloom early season, some mid season, and some late season. Not knowing the species of flowers that you planted makes it difficult for me to guess why yours stopped blooming. Perhaps the season was over? Perhaps they needed some additional care other than what you knew to provide?

I don't really understand the pruning you did, but it would help if you were to post pictures of your plants. I'm sure one of our members can advise you.

[mtmickey]

Depending on the types of plants, cutting the leaves could have caused them not to bloom. Many bulb/tuber type flowers, like lily's, iris, daffodils, tulips, should not have their green leaves cut.

[JenaJones]

I have some pictures to share but I'm not sure how???

[rainbowgardener]

Please read New to Helpful Gardener? There's lots of good stuff in there, including under Helpful Tips and Suggestions for New Members, detailed instructions for how to post photos here.

[JenaJones]

Here are my flowers. Any helpful tips on how to properly prune these plants and what I can do to help them produce more blooms would be greatly appreciated!


[img]https://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg538/JenaJones0908/Hibiscus.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg538/JenaJones0908/Lilly.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg538/JenaJones0908/PinkBlooms.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg538/JenaJones0908/Vine.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg538/JenaJones0908/WhiteBlooms.jpg[/img]

[rainbowgardener]

Let's see. The bottom pictures are an azalea. Azaleas set their buds for next spring in midsummer this year. Those buds open in spring and then the plant is done blooming. If you cut the buds off, the plant will not bloom that year, although the plant can still be perfectly healthy and bloom the following year.

Azaleas like acid soil (azalea fertilizers sold in stores are acidifying) and not too much sun.

Not sure about the vine. When you say "pretty little periwinkle flowers" were they star shaped and white and fragrant? If not, give us a better description.


Lilies bloom once a season on the stems that came up this year. They will produce more flowers for 2-3 weeks and then they are done. I'm thinking if you cut the top of the stems off then it isn't going to bloom more this year. But leave those stems there. The leaves feed the bulbs so that it can bloom next year.

It sounds like you are used to growing annuals where you deadhead them to keep them blooming. Many perennials, especially shrubby things like the azaleas, are not like that.

[JenaJones]

WOW thank you soooo much!! I thought my Lilly died because yeah it had great big beautiful flowers for only a few weeks then all the petals fell off. So what is the right way to prune the azalea when it gets too leafy and miss-shaped? Is it okay to cut the leafs on the azalea? I'll try to do some more research on the vine. Do you have any thoughts as to why the plant with the little pink flowers leafs are spotting and turning yellow? Is it dying?

[rainbowgardener]

Prune the azalea right after it blooms, before it sets the buds for next year. But it shouldn't need a lot of pruning.

Yup, bloom with big, beautiful, usually fragrant flowers for 2-3 weeks, then drop all the petals and be done blooming until the following year is what lilies do.

I don't know what your pink flowered plant is, so I'm not sure what's wrong with it. But one thing I always wonder about with plants in containers is drainage and over-watering. Most plants in containers want to dry out pretty well between waterings. Staying too wet can cause yellowing leaves and in severe cases root rot and death. Sometimes if containers are flat on the ground, it can prevent good drainage. It helps to elevate them on bricks or pot feet or something.

[PunkRotten]

3 pic down is something called Oleander. It is a weed that grows here and poisonous.

[nesaya]

I have a couple of oleander in the yard, they are poisonous, but I hardly believe he is planning on eating it ;P . They are very though, they can take hard pruning and will be back stronger and ticker than ever.