When are you looking for them? Aucubas bloom very early in the season, the flowers are dark and tiny and are easily overlooked and those plants in very heavy shade may not produce many flowers either......unless you are out there sometime later this month inspecting closely, you could easily miss them entirely. They are dioecious, with males and females being separate plants. Many of the more popular gold variegated forms are male clones, so no berries :-) While some cultivars are sold more for their berries ('Rozannie'), this should more realistically be considered primarily a foliage plant.

Hi Anna, Well....welcome to our world!! I'd say your amaryllis would have been guarantted to bloom in 5 weeks if it had all the optimal conditions, but sitting in a box at room temp for who knows how long wasn't what it needed!! Most of those box kits show up in the stores in October and at that point they have come from the distributor where they have been chilled and just ready to bloom. If they aren't given warmth, water, and a little love within a window of a couple of months...they may say, "Forget it, I'll wait till next year!!". So obviously, your good efforts at Christmastime just arrived too late. BUT...there is good news!! Put that bulb outside where it can soak up the sun and keep it watered (not soaking) with 1/2 strength Miracle Gro (or a similar water based fertilizer). Those leaves should grow nice and green and STRONG and be able to support themselves! Then...around late August (you are getting a late start!!) stop watering and turn the pot on its side where the rain can't hit the soil. Those nice leaves should yellow up and shrivel. At that point, cut them back to the neck of the bulb and put the bulb in the pot somewhere where the temp will be above freezing for the next 8 weeks. Bring it out...8 weeks later, give it some water and warmth, (and sunlight if possible...although winter dreariness might do) and you may be rewarded with blooms. Since it's had a rough first year, just be patient with it...it might go on its natural cycle and bloom in the spring. As soon as it's warm enough (April/May) put it outside so it can soak up the benefits. You need to build that bulb back up so that it will reward you with blooms! GOOD LUCK...and be patient!! Kristi

LBF it is true that a brug needs to form a "Y" before it will set buds. I think there's an exception to this rule with some varieties, but very few. Branching is not the same as making a Y. You will see unequal leaf bases where a plant has formed a Y. I have some brugs that reach 6+ feet before they will form a Y and others that will bloom while still very small. If grown from a cutting, where it was taken from on the parent plant can determine how soon it will bloom. If it was taken from above a Y it will normally bloom sooner then a cutting taken below the Y. Karyn

Thanks to both of you for responding. Ken, we do not have a lawn so the lack of blooming can't be due to fertilizer. Back in the woods they definitely are in full time shade. In the front borders, they are in partial to light shade. Not much light, but some. I have toad lily, hosta,geranium and astilbe next to the iris and they all bloom - oh, and azalea too. But no iris cristata blooms. Frustrating as my research online shows that they should bloom where they are. Maybe they need more time. I may try transplanting another batch and putting them in a sunnier spot in the bed. One of these years I would LOVE to see a sea of little iris in the spring!