Could you send a picture? Al

Very often, you'll find that clerks don't know roots from shoots & often dispense fragments of advice they overheard in the store or that just sound good. If you want to know if they really know their stuff, challenge them a little with another question or two, point out an inconsistency in the advice, or just simply ask them how they came to the conclusion they offered. Their reply will tell you much more than their advice about their qualifications. There is nothing wrong with fertilizing in winter, or maintaining a certain level of fertilizer in the soil. If your soil allows you to water freely, you can fertilize at low dosages EVERY time you water, even in the winter. Going back upthread a little .... If I had asked the question about why my plants aren't blooming during the winter, the advice to fertilize or give them more light would be entirely inappropriate, because they GET good light & they get fertilized @ every watering. I could just as easily cause my plants harm as do them some good if I took the offhand advice. Back to fertilizing: If your soil is slow, so you are forced to water in sips to prevent root rot, fertilizing in winter can be a very BAD thing. There would already be salts accumulating in the soil, originating from fertilizer and irrigation water. These salts CONTINUE to accumulate unless you flush the soil when you water. The effect of these salts is they make it commensurately more difficult for the plant to absorb both water and the nutrients dissolved in water as salt levels rise (They interfere with osmosis on a cellular level). From what I said, you can see that the advice to fertilize should never be given w/o some knowledge of how you are maintaining cultural conditions that affect salt levels and at least a GUESS at the likelihood of how much salt is in the soil now. IF you've fertilized every 4 weeks, it's almost assured that salt levels in your soil are high, unless you're growing in a fast (free-draining) soil. It also sounds like the plant is getting plenty of sun to assure budset when the plant is in the appropriate point in it's growth cycle (It's likely setting buds now). Some spaths bloom more continuously than others, but they all tend to bloom more prolifically in spring & early summer. That is genetically programmed into the plant, and no amount of fertilizer will change that. Additionally, you cannot make the plant grow MORE or grow Better or make it BLOOM more by supplying nutrients that are already present in adequate supply. It is only by increasing those nutrients that are deficient and LIMITING growth that you can improve growth (Search "Liebig's Law of the Minimum". How long has it been since the plant was repotted? Root-bound conditions slow extension. o/a growth and vitality, and can interfere significantly with bloom induction. Al

Linnea and Linda....that's exactly what I mean re the Monarda (bloom, fade, mildew and cut back = big open space). It's great that your plants last all season as...mine are great, but short lived. They get a decent amount of sun, but with big trees around, they don't get "full" sun all day long. Rivka...I have Echincea growing in other spaces, so I can dig some up and inter space with the Monarda...sounds good. When you cut your Monarda back, do you literally cut the tops off, or pinch to the lst leaves?? Leslie, I bought 3 late blooming Orientals yesterday, so it will be interesting to see how they do. I've only grown Asiatic lilies, so don't know what to expect. Thanks for the link. Also bought some late blooming Astilbe. Do I need manure, or can I use plant food? I don't usually feed my plants.

The Stargazers will require about 400 hours of chill/vernalization at a temperature of about 35 degrees F to assure a good bloom next spring. Lilium bulbs dug and sold for Fall planting (which I assume these were) are not prechilled; bulbs shipped in March/April for Spring Planting are prechilled by the seller. So, about a month in the fridge should do. Watch to make sure they stay just a little moist--don't let them dry out because lily bulbs don't have a protective shell like tulips do. And then plant them right along with your tulips. In your zone 9, Stargazers may or may not require an annual refigerator vernalization for a good bloom--see how they flower in 2013; and decide from there. If you have further questions about lilies in particular don't hesitate to ask. Good Luck!