Question: Many bougainvilleas are in full bloom in our neighborhood, but ours is good and green and only has a few flowers scattered among the plant. How do we obtain more blooms?
Answer: Perhaps too much care is the cause of your bougainvillea‘s lack of blooms. The plants seem to enjoy the luxury of lots of fertilizer and water,but it frequently enough causes them to grow lushly and skip flowering. Some of the most attractive bougainvilleas are found on old homesites receiving little or no care. Benign neglect seems the best way to bring your bougainvillea into bloom. Start by fertilizing in the spring,and maybe early summer,with a slow-release landscape product. Than, only water during dry periods. Let your plant grow. Too much trimming keeps bougainvilleas in a more juvenile state with fewer blooms. Complete any minimal pruning needed by midsummer. Also, ensure your bougainvillea receives plenty of light; full sun is best.
Q. Globs of white,cottony substances are on our pittosporum stems,and some of the leaves are turning black. What is happening to our shrubs, and is there something we can do?
A. It looks like a large population of cottony cushion scale has found a home on your pittosporum, as identified in a photo you sent. These are piercing, sucking insects that produce sap and excreta on which sooty mold fungus grows. If left unchecked, cottony cushion scale kills stems and eventually the plant. Obtain control with a natural horticultural oil spray. The spray must coat the insects and sooty mold to be effective. A repeat application is highly likely to be needed in three to four weeks, following label directions. Oil sprays for landscape plants are usually found at independent garden centers and hardware stores. Gardeners also find systemic insecticides applied to the soil beneath the pittosporum can provide control. When the infestation is heavy, you might apply both the oil and systemic insecticide.
Q. Seed pods are hanging on our crape myrtles. Should they be trimmed off now that the blooming season is over and our tree has lost most of its leaves? Will new ones form next year if we leave them?
A. Removing all those little seed pods sounds like tedious work to me. Right now, there should be no pruning that would encourage new growth. Crape myrtles are entering a dormant phase that should last until February or March. Stimulating growth could make the tree and shrub forms more susceptible to cold. During late winter, feel free to remove the ends of branches with seed pods to make the plants a bit tidier.Removing or leaving the ends of branches and seed pods should not affect future flowering.
Q. A couple of our crown of thorns plants are about 4 feet tall, and I need to cut them back to about 2 feet tall. I usually cut them back before now but forgot to do it this fall. Is now an OK time?
A. Yes, now is an acceptable time to prune your crown of thorns plants.While it’s typically done earlier, they are resilient and will respond well to pruning even now.