I moved my pampas grass to a sunny location after it became too big for the space it was in before. It’s going into its second summer. It didn’t flower last fall and I would like to know if there is something I should do now to guarantee flowers this fall?
It is possible that the transplanting set the plant back and thus it did not bloom last year. As with lawn grass, the ornamentals grow best in full sun with good garden soil and adequate moisture. You might want to water it as needed to keep the soil moist but not soggy wet, and provide it with a light application of complete fertilizer such as 10-10-10 and/or some compost. Look for blooms late in the season.
Burning bushes in a row: All get full sun; one turns its fall color, the other two don’t. They were all planted at the same time three years ago. The first one has not grown much and has no fall color. The middle one has grown the most of the three but has no color. The third one in the row has grown some and has nice fall color. They are not planted under an overhang so I don’t think it’s too much water from a clogged eave. The perennials planted around them seem to do fine. Any suggestions? Thank you.
This is a bit mystifying. The most common reason for lack of fall coloring is that the plant is growing in too much shade, but these are in full sun. There can be some genetic variation between plants that would account for the difference if they were seedling grown. The difference is size is most likely due to how well the plants have managed to establish their roots. The small one most likely is not rooting as well as the other two. Again, however, there can also be some genetic variation in growth rates.
