My Esperanza which bloomed like crazy last year, froze and came back. The foliage is beautiful but not one bloom. I drive all around the neighborhood and city and see everyone else's going crazy , but no, not mine! Anyone ever had this happen?
Esperanza not blooming
Mine is just beginning to bloom so it is not too late, maybe theirs is in more sun than yours.
Mine is in full west sun, can't get anymore sun than it does. My neighbor acturally has hers in the front of her house which gets some morning sun only and it looks wonderful.
I feel for you Annie Jo. I have the same problem. My Esperanza gets about 15 feet high and whether I let it grow tall or keep it clipped to a medium level it never blooms until September. Everywhere around town and in nurseries the stuff is blooming like crazy. Mine will not bloom. I have tried bloom booster, fertilizer, everything. This thing gets like 10 hours of sun a day . There is no reason for it not to bloom but it won't. I have just resigned myself because come September and October it is gorgeous but I get nothing but the pretty foliage all summer long. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them too.
Leslie.
Wow, Leslie, that is weird. I was gong to hit it wine bloom booster, but it sounds like that might not work. The hibiscus on either side of it are going crazy. I don't get it....
try some magnesium - epsom salt...sprinkle a bit around..alot of the Texas soil is deficient
Rj
Rj,
Thanks, I will. I put it around my roses but I always think of the Esperanzas as those "carefree" plants that don't need much fuss and they don't get a lot of the "extras".
Do you guys let people that can't even grow hardy plants come to your round-ups?
Annie
mine hasn't bloomed yet, either
LOL...of course!
, I fertilize mine with that Space city Hibiscus Fertilizer from Southwest Fertilzer. In fact all of the tropical plants really respond to it.
but esperanza's do have a will of there own. They seem to thrive on neglect for the most part.
Your esperanza is a Gold Star? They usually top out at 5 feet, and now and then one will get 6 ft. Where did you get it? It sounds like you have a native plant and not a selection based on a manageable size and a long blooming period. Esperanzas have been slow to bloom this year because we kept having cool nights way up into late spring, but every one I see is at least partially blooming by now. They're not very expensive, and nurseries will be wanting to move their stock on out soon anyway. I'd take the one you have out and replace it with a certified Gold Star as described in the Texas Superstar list, A&M website. You want those beautiful yellow flowers all summer and up until the first freeze, not for a couple of months in the early fall. A new one will tend to be lanky the first year, but when you cut it to the ground after the first killing frost and it comes back next April, it will be a lot more full.
I'm not sure, but it has bloomed non stop since early spring...I should say they..I have one in the back garden as well. The one in front is about 5 feet tall, but the one in back is about 2 or 3 feet tall. I grew the one in back from seed. I have another one that is suppose to be orange, (from seed) put in in the back garden..but haven't checked on it...I'm too busy trimming, cutting back and heading off mealies, mites and tent catipillars..
I'm sorry, rjuddharrison, I was 'talking' to Leslie in Abilene who has one that gets FIFTEEN feet tall and doesnn't bloom until September. (The post is about 8 up from this one). There is something seriously wrong there. Esperanzas are shrubs, not small trees. And any that's not blooming by the first week in June has something wrong. They live in poor, shallow soil in the wild and can go for a long time without water.
I have heard of the orange type, but haven't seen one. Would like to get one.
You said they froze back last year. The first year I had mine they froze back and it took all summer to get them to bloom. Last winter I didn't cut them back and they didn't freeze. They are blooming like crazy. Next year if it get real cold and freezes. Cover Them with a blanket. Only removed the damage branches and see if they don't bloom early for you. Try not to cut them back unless you have to.
interesting, as mine went through similiar conditions with similar results
I am in Central Texas, where there is always a freeze each winter, and the first time the temps drop to say 30 degrees or lower, the entire plant- above soil level- freezes- dies. I could leave the ugly stems and branches alll winter, but there is no advantage in doing so. So I cut the plant down to soil level for cosmetic reasons. I've had esperanza in one spot for ten years, and only once has it gotten cold enough to kill the roots. For nine years out of the ten, the plant regrows starting about mid-April and is just as beautiful as the year before. The plant is vegetative until the latter part of May, when it begins to put on flowers. Then it blooms like crazy until the first freeze gets it, usually in November.
Jerry Parsons of A&M horticulture suggests cutting the plant back by about 1/2 in early July to encourage it to bloom even more heavily. I've done this for the past couple of years and have been quite pleased. Of course, you lose a few weeks of blooming while the plant regrows, but the new growth produces so much flowering I think it's worth it. This would be especially useful for those of you in the southern part of the state- Houston and Universal City, for instance.
I have heard that in parts of Florida and South Texas where there is never (or rarely) a freeze, esperanzas can get up to 20 ft. tall. I still think these are native plants and not the greatly improved varieties which flower much more freely and have larger blooms.