I've had this Dracaena for at least 15 years, and it has never bloomed before. I bought it as a small plant in a small pot and soon re-potted it as it grew larger. I knew that this species is quite tolerant of very adverse conditions because I've seen neglected specimens thriving in offices with hardly any light. I kept it indoors under a small east window during the winter, with only sporadic watering. During the summer it was placed under a small plum tree and watered more frequently. It grew fairly rapidly under these conditions and; when it got too tall for the window location, it had to be cut back twice so far. Each time I simply cut off the upper, leafy part of the plant (about 1.5 ft long) with about 1 ft of bare stem and shoved the bare stem (with rooting hormone on the cut) into fresh soil in the same 9" diameter pot. The second time that I cut the top off the plant was last winter, and it took several months for the roots to form and for normal growth to resume. I put it outside during the period when daily minimum temperatures were mostly above 10 degrees C, bringing it inside in early October. I noticed that the leaves had yellowed significantly while it was outside, but it greened up afterwards. I only watered it sporadically after bringing it inside and didn't notice the blossom spike until it was almost a foot long in December. It was watered more regularly after that. Some of the blossom buds turned brown and didn't open, but the plant is still blooming and notably fragrant at night a couple of days after the photo was taken. I know that it is pure luck that this Dracaena bloomed at all; but, now that it has happened, I'd like to experience it again. Can anyone provide some tips on getting D. Fragrans to bloom regularly?
While it's an interesting experience, I find the scent cloying. I'm in Florida, so most houseplants are either outdoors completely or on a screened porch. I kept it in dappled sun outdoors and it bloomed nearly every winter, even when I had to take it in for chilly weather. The scent was a migraine trigger, so the original and several cuts from it found new homes. As I recall, the leaves faded a bit in the sun, not scald but just dulling, and the yellow stripe down the leaf greened a bit.
