Hello, heckabore. Normally, pruning after the rhodie has set flower buds would cause your problem. However, since it has not been pruned in 5-6 years, something else is causing the problem. Do you mind answering some questions? How close is it planted in relation to the other plants, shrubs and/or trees? Can you give us an idea in terms of plant types and inches/feet of separation? Has the plant ever bloomed... at all? Do you have flower buds now or did the plant not even set buds at all? If it has buds, how do they look? Healthy? Are they browned out? Do they look like they have hair covering them? (That is a sign of a fungal infection.) Do you have animals that could eat the flower buds in your city? Deer and squirrels have been known to eat the buds in some locales. If the plant is not developing buds, how much and when do you fertlize? Could it be getting too much nitrogen directly (when you fertilize it) and indirectly (from lawn fertilizers)? Normally, you do not need to fertilize rhodies as they feed off the decomposing mulch. But if you have to fertilize due to poor soils or because it is in a pot then the plant could stay busy in growing mode if you apply fertilizers after July or so. July or so is when the plant begins developing flower buds for next year. Cold weather can be issue but I doubt it would be THE issue for so many years in Zone 9. Moreover, I would have expected it to be an issue for the azaleas too. Very wet conditions could also cause problems during summer so let us know if you normally have cool wet summers. Lack of sun can also be an issue although I would be suspicious of that if the nearby azaleas are blooming as well as you say. Is the plant suffering from moisture issues at the time it is developing the flower buds (July-August)? This could be an issue to nearby azaleas but it surprises me that all of them are doing ok. How much and how often do you water during the summer? If they are drowned in water during this critical time, they may be unable to develop buds. Ditto for lack of water. Soil Ph might be an issue too but it would have affected the other azaleas. Lack of certain micro nutrients in the soil can trigger this behaviour in rhodies but, again, I am surprised that the nearby azaleas have not been affected. When was the last time that you had a soil test? Lastly and this is not a cop out, I have heard of some varieties of rhododendron that never bloom but I doubt yours would be if the label showed otherwise. People buy them for the foliage. Of course, you did mention that the missing plant label indicated otherwise. If we cannot figure something out, do not feel obliged to keep this weak specimen. Some plants like roses (Queen Elizabeth for example) sometimes bloom poorly or not all. Luis

i don't think so. i have an anthurium in the corner of 2 windows : NW-NE. when it gets sev hours of sun in the morning from ne - very early sun 8-10am from spring equinox to fall equinox + late sun from the west sev hours about the same time of year that's when it blooms. So direct but not hot sun about 5-6 hours daily. for other 6 months with hardly any sun in winter from the west (2-3 hours) it just grows leaves. that's about the minimum it needs to bloom. you might consider growing lights - it does not have to be a big fluorescent fixture, just a floor lamp with day-light bulbs in it that you can position fairly close to the plant - about 12-18 inches. it also needs a fertilizer formulated with higher P and about equal amts of N and K. something like african violet fertilizer 8-14-9 will work. normally it can bloom continuosly for sev years if given good conditions and feed. then it grows very long stem and develops off-shoots that start blooming. at which point the main stem declines.

It is really springtime now! Everything is looking great. Love your daffs. How are your iris? I have some that look like they should show buds really soon, but I really can't imagine it. I do have buds on a couple of SDBs. My very earliest bloom last year on SDB iris, Boo, was April 4, & that was earlier than normal. Been cleaning out my iris beds though, just in case. I usually get behind & find myself cleaning them out when a few are starting to bud. Of course I end up knocking off those buds, & usually they are the ones I'm anxious to see.

Do some reading on peonies. They generally bloom once a year. Some tree peonies will bloom twice with the correct conditions. You will not see any more blooms this year. This is why I have continued to suggest that buyers look at the foliage and seedpods if any. The blooms are only one short part of a four season plant.