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Reason why a hosta doesn't flower?

16 years ago

This one has had me stumped.

Fried Green Tomatoes sits among other hosta's for 4 years and has not flowered?

It's a large and happy, 20" x 36" and just won't put up a scape. Hosta's to the side and behind it are doing great.

It's an established bed. Go figure! Any comments on why and if you've had one that has done the same?

Curious minds want to know.

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Comments (5)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
in the green thumbs world.. aka mass generalities ... lack of flower vigor .. is usually associated with too little sun ....

hosta are ONLY shade tolerant ...

all fragrant hosta are derived from plantiginea ... which can take LOTS OF sun.. depending on how far south you are ...

so it MIGHT follow that deep shade might restrict proper flower production ...

ALSO ... all of my plantaginea/fragrant hosta are VERY susceptible to late spring frosts ... most aren't killed.. but there growth for the year is greatly retarded ...

otherwise ... i have no clue ...

ken
donrawson
16 years ago
BTW, if it doesn't flower, you won't get any tomatoes! Don
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hostared
Original Author
16 years ago
Oh that's funny Don...lol
Ken maybe it does need more sun. It is under a tall Japanese Maple, Oshi Beni, that is limbed up.I just hate to move a mature clump but maybe some experimentation may be in order. Everything around it flowers. This one just stumps me. I do know about plantaginea and frost...especially this year. Most of them took some sort of hit but they all recovered well.
Thank God for dormant eyes. The only one that I thought I almost lost was Venus. This beauty was at 20 eyes in the spring then the frost. It was pretty sad but today it's not as big as it was last year but still has produced 10 eyes. We'll see if it gets scapes. But that one would of made me sick if I lost it.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
i forgot to add the other generality .... too much nitrogen will make the plant grow green like crazy, with a possible loss of flower ... in other words.. it will grow like over fertilized grass ...

also .. i tried to grow hosta under a bloodgood MAPLE ... years ago ... it had a fine fibrous surface roots that choked out all competition ... i could barely dig out the hosta that were dying under it ... hey .. a maple is a maple ... if something is wrong with hosta under it ... get it out ....

i think first issue was maturity .. it always takes a year or two to get decent flowers ... plus add the frost.. plus add the maple...

you are lucky the thing is alive..

get it out of there ... NOW...

ken
hostared
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Ken,
I think the point you missed was that there are other hosta's flurishing. FGT isn't suffering other than no flowers. Other hosta's under that tree are Thunderbolt (flowerd) 3 Francis Williams, Golden Prayer and Eye Declare. All flowering and ready to eat my house. Most of those hostas have been there over many years. The roots could be a problem but there are others there and an extensive perennial garden on both sides. This little stinker just doesn't want to flower. I only fertilize my grass 2X a year and my perennial garden gets compost. So maybe some year it will surprise me.

As for the large maples the only one we have near us is on the parkway in front of the house. Sucks the life out of everything. I have some perennials in the front and annuals and every year I have to dig out a garbage can of roots before I can plant the annuals. What a thug of a tree.

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