Yes, look for the small pink flowers from August onwards - the leaves will have disappeared by then. It's Cyclamen hederifolium, one of the hardy cyclamen. It's planted just fine. Here are some of mine (28th August).

Almost certainly those are seed grown trees, and assuming that is in fact the case, you may be waiting a few more years. Seed grown trees have to mature for a number of years (only they know how many) before they will flower. A grafted tree, takes a branch of another tree that becomes attached to the rootstock (another probable seed grown tree). This grafted portion "knows" that it is already some years old genetically, and therefore will begin flowering earlier. You likely seed grown tree will flower, but nobody can say how long that will be. BTW, flower buds are set in late summer the year before flowering, so you can examine your tree in the fall and determine if it will likely flower the following spring. The flower buds look kinda like an teardrop shaped onion in shape.You can find pictures on the net. Arktrees

There is no reason to be sad visrow, if you follow patty's advice of fertilizing 3 to 4 times a year (or a bit more depending on your growing season) and good sunlight exposure there is no reason for your presumably grafted tree to take 7 years to produce. Thank you for the update jardinera, if I remember correctly from school that is the female tense Spanish term for gardener?

There is a variegated lacecap hydrangea that many nurseries advertise as being hardy to Zone 5 but many people post complaints about not getting flowers. Can you tell if the one in the link resembles yours. If so, check two things: make sure that you are not pruning it at the wrong time and apply some winter protection. This hydrangea, simply called Variegata, develops invisible flower buds starting sometime after July-August. The buds then open in Spring. So if you prune in October, you would cut off the blooms. This variegated hydrangea is best pruned after it has bloomed (so you can enjoy the blooms) but before the end of June. If you notice that the stems dry out & die during winter and if you also notice that all new growth originates from the base/crown then the shrub is not hardy and needs winter protection. There is another variegated hydrangea that is advertised as hardy to your zone and is called 'Mariesii Variegata'. The leaves on this one do not have as much variegation on the edges of the leaves. Both are lacecaps. http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/1460/variegated-lacecap-h ydrangea.php A few other things to check... if you have stems from last year that survive, notice if the flower buds open, make sure that there are no deer or squirrels nearby and make sure the plant does not loose soil moisture (flower buds are the first things to be aborted, then the leaves turn brown from the edges inwards). If there are stems that survive but do not produce blooms, winter could be the culprit but also make sure that you are not applying too much fertilizer (once a year in Spring is fine) and make sure that the plant is not in dense shade. This post was edited by luis_pr on Fri, Apr 12, 13 at 17:13