No success this year!!

Hi all,
My first post.
Is it just me or are we having a bad year.
In the past I have been able to grow a variety of plants but the last couple of years many plants have not bothered to flower much if at all.
An example, Convolvulus. Planted three 4 years ago, brilliant, lots of flowers and the plants are taking over the plot. Planted ten further plants in 2019 and five died. Planted three winter azalea 2018, no flowers at all.
A bed of asters, brilliant over the years, this year manky, lots of greenery but small flowers.
Plants that do grow produce lots of greenery but little or no flowers.
Now, Last year I fed the garden with miracle grow and the garden seemed to go into hibernation. It took 6 to 8 weeks for flowers to re-appear.
Any thoughts on this?

 

Hi,
Welcome to gardenerscorner. Mixed year in the garden here with some successes and as usual some failures. Part of the enjoyment of gardening is its unpredictability. Lost a convolvulus plant here as well. I like the wild flowers Herb Robert and Cut Leaf Crane's Bill so did not weed them out when they were growing near the convolvulus and it did not take well to being in more shade. I tried to move it when it looked unwell but it failed to take off in its new position. I thought they would be a bit more robust. Planted some azaleas a few years ago and still have two alive but they do seem very slow growing. I think I lost about half of them mostly when I had to move some because they were getting lost behind more vigorous growth. I wont list all of the plants that I have got to fail this year because this would end up being far too long a message but just think of the failures as an opportunity to try something different is the best approach I know of. No problem here with any lack of flowers but I use manure to build the soil up for some of the plants rather than chemical fertilizers which I think have a more short term effect. Some plants I have read are encouraged to produce more leaf when they have high levels of fertilizer and can produce more flowers when they have less nutrients so that could be an element of what you describe.
Happy gardening!

 

This season for me was a bit hit and miss.
Two Cucumber plants in a grow house, one small Cucumber only. Runner Beans were ok but a very dry summer didn't help. Tomato's and Potatoes were quite good.
Sun Flowers and Hollyhocks were lovely.
Oh and a Hydrangea that didn't flower this year.
But we all try again next season.

 

I would have thought that from a cold weather perspective only, your area would have been great (close but rarely below freezing, is it not?) and it does not get too hot either like here in the summer. Hope the next growing season is better.

 

It all depends on the weather and do we just put the them in the wrong place. Azaleas like it earicacious side of soil, so it could be that.

 

To add to Armandii post,Hydrangeas like water at the back end of the year..the clue is in the name,Hydro..

 

For French Hydrangea (macrophylla), Mountain Hydrangea (serrata) and Rough-leaved Hydrangea (aspera), I have this "lack of blooms" problem in some years too. I feel your pain. Here are some tips/suggestions: (1) using too much fertilizer (too much fertilizer keeps them growing nice green foliage but produces little or no blooms); (2) pruning at the wrong time (they produce "invisible" flower buds sometime after blooming so, should you need to prune for some reason then do so immediately after flowering to play it safe... on this side of the pond, after experimenting, I prune them as late as the end of June... you may need to experiment to see when do they typically produce flower buds); (3) in places where it gets cold or where late frosts occur, the stems may get killed so all new growth in Spring originates from the base (you may need to winter protect in the Fall, use frost cloth or use rebloomer varieties that bloom on old & new stems); (4) inconsistent watering can kill any already developed, invisible, flower buds; (5) insufficient sunlight (try to get as many hours of morning sunlight as you can; no strong afternoon or evening sunlight); (6) rebloomers will bloom on new wood but those new stems need to get tall and old enough to develop flower buds and open the blooms so choose specimens that are not too tall (normally this is important in areas where they get dappled sun); (7) transplanting/planting can injure roots and make the plants skip blooming or bloom less (the roots are typically tiny, shallow and fibrous, located about 10cms of depth only so be careful not to disturb them much).

Other different types of hydrangeas -like Pee Gee Hydrangeas (paniculatas), Smooth Hydrangea (arborescens), Oakleaf Hydrangeas (quercifolia) and Climbing Hydrangea (petiolaris)- have other but similar scenarios.

 

Hi everyone, thanks for the response.
I am beginning to think that my problem might have been as luis_pr and macraignil suggest, too much fertiliser. In my case the powder form of 'miracle grow'. I did follow the instructions to the letter and it says every fortnight so I did. I got an abundance of greenery and very little in the way of blooms.
I am thinking of maybe using the chicken poo pellets over the winter so the soil has some goodness in it for the spring. Does that sound like a good idea?

 

Only use those for vegetables (N.B. tomatoes are a fruit, not a vegetable).

I use (diluted) liquid tomato feed for my flowers (and tomatoes).

 

The golden rule is N = nitrogen = leafy growth, P = Phosphate = strong root growth, K = Potassium = flowers and fruit. All fertilisers should state on the packaging what proportions of each ingredient they contain, so you can judge whether you need, say, NPK 20-10-5 for a lawn or NPK 10-20-5 for new planting or NPK 10-10-20 for flowers and fruit.

 

Sometimes I think the obsession with feeding, of any kind, is not good.

I give one feed, a sprinkling of blood fish and bone in early spring, after that, nothing, except maybe another feed for potatoes onions etc.
I do have clay based soil which is pretty good at holding on to nutrient.

I rarely fertilise flowers growing in the garden, especially established plants.
Only liquid feed pot plants, in summer, or while in growth.

 

I feed the plants that are in containers and the roses, nothing else, they do great without it.

A few years ago someone asked me what do i do with my hellebores, they look so good, the answer I gave was i do nothing.