I have a book on bulbs here and it says that the most prolific of daffodils needs to be divided every five to six years. Some daffs are slower to increase, in which case you can also just divide them every decade or so. I grow Mount Hood, this is the second year they will bloom and already the flowers on each bulb have tripled and there are bulbils in sight as well. I might have to divide mine every four years... I guess it is best that you keep a journal for your daffs and monitor closely how much they increase each year. If you have trouble seeing how more new growth could come up in the limited space between this year's growth, that would be a sign that it is time to divide. I can't find the bit about when to divide these, but I gather all bulbs are best divided during dormancy, which would mean any time between the moment the leaves fall off and the moment the ground freezes, although I think earlier is better. I think that fall is a bad idea because by then, the plant may have grown more roots that reach deeper, and it will be that much harder to lift them, plus the new root growth would be wasted and it wouldn't have enough time to regenerate properly by next spring. But this is just my admittedly not perfect logic speaking. I would try to do it as soon as the leaves fall off. That way, you do it before new growth starts but after the plant is done producing for the current year. It would then be about to start using its gathered reserves to grow new roots, so your newly transplanted daff would be nicely nestled into place by the time spring comes.

I think your hostas are still young. They'll take a couple years to establish, then they'll bloom. Mine did not bloom the first year either, but I can't quite remember when they started to bloom. The big ones I have are plantaginea, 'Elegans', 'Sum & Substance' & 'Kossa Regal'. 'Elegans' & 'Kossa Regal' took their sweet time. The first 2-3 years I was asking myself what's the fuss about. Now they are huge and bloom reliably every year.

Never mind. I just discovered the FAQ--great question and answer there about iris that don't bloom. Very helpful. Have a good day. : ) Kate

I have no idea what the weather/ growing conditions have been like in Tuscany...! But here, the Japanese wisteria has usually been a bit more flowerbuds-hardy for me than the Chinese one. Since the Chinese one flowers earlier (largely before the foliage emerges) than the Japanese one (flowers as the foliage is emerging), the flowerbuds on the Chinese one are more vulnerable to late winter/early spring cold damage as they need to start coming out of dormancy a week or so earlier than the Japanese one does. If you are at a sufficiently higher elevation to be cooler, that, in combination with a cold spell, might account for the lack of flowers...? My Chinese one will produce some summer flowers if the new growth is regularly pruned back. Does yours do that? It can partly compensate for a poor spring bloom :-). Also, I grow a ‘Henryi’ clematis into the Chinese wisteria to give me some additional summer blooms there. Wisteria season here is the end of May so the buds on mine are only beginning to emerge from dormancy.