non-blooming oleanders

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birdgarden New Iberia, LA(Zone 8b) Aug 30, 2007

My oleander shrubs have not bloomed this summer. They have gotten a lot of new growth, are in full sun and get sufficient water. If I prune now so that they will be more bushy, will I cut blooms off for next summer? I always thought this was a fool-proof shrub for summer blooms. I am really disappointed. No bugs, either! anyone know what's wrong!

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 30, 2007

How long have you had them? If they were just planted last year or this year, then it could be you just need to give them time, lots of shrubs take a couple years to really get going. The other possibility is if you (or Mother Nature) have been watering them a lot or you've fertilized them a lot, it could be too much love. They thrive on neglect--think freeway medians in CA where we get no rain for 7 months straight and they're baking in the sun and I'm sure they're probably not fertilized either. Since I've never watered mine much or given them any fertilizer I can't say for sure that too much of those things would stop them from blooming, but since they do great without them, it's definitely a possibility.

As far as pruning--prune away, I had a bunch at my old house and I pruned them every year in November or so and they bloomed fine the next year.

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birdgarden New Iberia, LA(Zone 8b) Aug 31, 2007

maybe you are right, ecrane3, about the water and fertilization! We have had quite a bit of rain this summer. And I gave everything a good dose of fertilizer! The shrubs must be about 3 years old as they were a nice size when I bought them. I planted them 1 1/2 years ago. I am going to prune them carefully just to make them bush out a bit more as I do want a sort of privacy hedge. They are in the back of a 6 foot wide bed of mixed shrubs.

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 31, 2007

It could be the water and fertilizer, but if you only planted them last year it's also very possible that they're still settling in, I'd see what happens next year. I've planted a number of shrubs, then the following year after I planted them they either didn't bloom or only had a few blooms because they were still getting settled.

You can try cutting back on the water and fertilizer next year, but they may bloom anyway even if you don't. They do fine without water and fertilizer, but that doesn't necessarily mean that having those things would stop them from blooming. Some plants are pickier about when they'll bloom but others can be happy with a wide range of conditions, and I don't know which way oleanders are. I know lots of people in the south grow them, so at the very least the natural amount of rainfall that you would get in a normal year isn't bad for them.

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