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Fri, Aug 17, 12 at 22:37
| Back in April, I put in a few Gaura lindheimeri plants in my very well drained, sandy, drought prone back garden hoping to have fountains of dainty white blooms weaving through my flower beds. Instead, I have giant floppy messes with dozens of flower stems each but only a total of 3-5 individual open flowers *total* per plant at any given time. It has been like this all summer.
I have never fertilized them, but they do get sprinkled with the hose occasionally since we have had no rain to speak of all summer until the last week. They are located in full all day sun. They grow out of control but barely any flowers. Are these things likely to improve or should I just shovel prune them? Any ideas? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Mine got floppy too, so I cut them all back a month ago and they bushed out and are beginning to flower again. Next year I'll have to remember to trim them back before they flop all over to keep them more compact. Karen |
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- Posted by wagonwheel 5a IA (My Page) on Fri, Aug 17, 12 at 23:58
| We have basically had a drought all summer here along with 90-100 degrees for whole month of July. Had a garden walk here for a couple of church ladies groups 1st of August so I was watering continuously. My white gaura is blooming nicely while my pink ones are just starting to bloom. My experience with them is they really don't take off till it cools off a little. They seem to put on the show in the fall. We've had temps down in 40's-50's at night, 70's daytime, the last week and they are really getting some color now. Mine have never really flopped and I never get around to fertilizing. |
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| I think the reason mine flopped, and so many other plants, is because before I planted them last year as babies, I had the entire bed amended with horse manure while my boyfriend till it up, so perhaps the soil was too rich for the plants and they all grew too quickly and flopped. They are in a full sun situation, well, full sun from about ten in the morning until about four or five in the afternoon for most of the summer. So it isn't lack of sun, I do think the reason is the horse manure. Karen |
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| DO NOT FERTILIZE!!!!! Water the first year then after that leave them alone. These drought resistant plants. These are only plants that I didn't water during the drought that bloom. |
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