diygardener, reasons for failure to bloom are too much shade, overfertilization which can lead to formation of foliage in place of flowering, pruning too late in the season thus removing the flower buds, drought in summer when they would be setting buds for the following year. And, failure to deadhead which can lead to heavy flowering every other year. So, from your description, I'm trying to picture their site in front of your bays....Are they in heavy shade? Is there something about the placement near the construction of your house that shelters them from rains, making the site dry? (I had a rhododendron here in a corner location next to my front porch that actually stayed dry in winter...very hard condition to create in coastal washington.) Brown leaf edges usually indicates lack of water rather than winter injury...have you paid more attention to water with that bed with the addition of your perennials?

Jason, Not sure I remember it has been a few months,I'm far from a source of good info on these. I believe I planted them slightly under the surface of the ground and from what I see that is common for rhizomes........at least my ginger are grown that way too....someone please correct me if I'm wrong ;-) Actually my ginger is on top of the soil, half buried. I do favor iris and since these were "special" they are close to my front door as you can see. This is the north side of the house and they won't get full sun but I'm hoping they'll get enough. I know they are not languishing even in winter, they look really good. Yes my soil is fairly sandy, isn't all of Florida, haha? The hardest part is figuring out how to put all the plants I love close to my front door.... Darren

Hello Everyone, Hi Jen!!! Great thread!!! Now where do i even begin..All of the pics that you all have posted are sooooooooo beautiful!!! I love them all!!! My Makaha SUnn looks just like yours!!! That is a favorite of mine and imm so happy to have found this cutting from a very generous person in Florida!! Thank you!!! I cant wait to see the blooms on this beauty! After reading about the story from Bud, i have been searching for this one and finally found it! Thanks to Carol for grafting this for me!!! SHe did a great job!!! As always.... KMS..Your DSP is a real Beauty!!! Love the look of your tree! So healthy and the foliage looks so green and full! Thanks for the help on the greenhouse...im sure ill be asking more questions... : ) Sun, The Kaneohe Sunburst is a real beauty!! I love the color. My cutting was one that i brought back from CA and didnt do well, so i had to recut and start over. It did root but it is small. At least i have it and it will grow. I started with the cutting about 4-6 inches. Never thought it would take, but it did!!! So dont ever think that it can be to small to root, because it just might!!! : ) ALex, My DIvine has been a great tree as well, Very strong bloomer and has grown twice the size since last year!!! Its still a compact tree, but has really filled out quite a bit!!! Love how long the blooms stay around on this DIvine. I think this is a must for everyone's list. Sorry to hear about your PP.last year it did well for you. Hopefully, next year it will be the strong bloomer for you!!! MY dissapointments this year have been some cuttings that i brought back from CA that are very special to me. Im still in the process of rooting one that came from a special tree. My California Sally has taken her sweet time to root. I have had to recut her and try over due to root rot. It seems when you want a particular one to do well, it will be the one that gives you heartache. Im hoping that it will do well. I do have leaves starting to form from the cutting, but no roots yet. Sparky has done the same for me. Had to recut him and start two different cuttings. One is going south to a dear friend and i hope she has better luck at rooting this special cutting!! : ) My other dissapointment was my Lavender. I thought from early spring that i had seen some indication of an inflo starting to form. It didnt do anything this season, and its been one that i have been anxiously waiting to see. So i think that this spring, this one and many others will get a good root pruning and get repotted in some better mix. : ) Here are some pictures of some of my favorites... J-105 Black Tiger Royal Hawaiian Lani Psycho Elizabeth Thornton Lemon Drop Peg's car sticker!!! LOL... My DR before repotting.... then after... it did very well this summer!!! It loves the "gritty Mix" Last but not least...a pic of my daughters dog with my daughter...She is my biggest and most "pleasant surprise" I am a very happy mother...some of you know that she had a very tough summer... but all is fine with her and im a very thankful mom!!! so, this is the last of the pics..showing you that she is well and her little one is showing off a bloom from one of the last remaing ones that i have this summer... Life is good!!! : ) go give your love ones a hug... : ) Take care everyone, Jen, Thanks for this great thread...What a great way to show the joys of the summer and to share some of the dissapointments that we can work on to fix for the next season... : ) Take care everyone, Laura in VB

Hey Samuel, Thanks for the pic...and the info! Why didn't I think of using a light fixture like that!! Your Mallika looks great. You just got that this year right? I remember you talking about what variety you were going to get. Looks like your mango all ready has a great shape to it. I think that is the most frustrating aspect of growing mango outside of subtropical areas. I have only had my tree for little over a year now. IT has grown tremendously buy I know if it were in FL or CA it would have grown even more than what it has. What I am finding to be a problem is getting good air ciculation between all my plants. Add the heat and light quality from the 600 watt HPS and I have the perfect enviroment for insect and pest infestations. This year I am splitting up my tropicals even more. I am using a small spare bedroom and also my basement. I have to otherwise the insect problem will become too much to deal with. Last year I lost a lancetilla mango that I got an awesome deal on. I only paid $25 for it and because I had so many trees grouped together under that light, I ended up with sooty mold. That mold problem killed the lancetilla, an Oro Blanco grapefruit, my 'Day' avocado(which was blooming size), and some other tropicals. This year I sprayed all my tropicals 3x's with a 3 in 1 insecticidal soap. I really didn't want to but I couldn't run into that problem again. I will try and get pictures of the mango trees up here. The zoom lens on my digital is frozen, and because of that I cannot get a pic. Maybe I can get a decent pic with my IPAD. Andrew