We moved into our home in South Jersey approximately 5 years ago in late fall. The next fall I planted two white dogwood and one pink dogwood. We live on a one acre property among a dense cover of scarlet oak and white oak, and several holly and pitch pine. The dogwood were 3-4 feet tall when planted. The white dogwood bloomed (approximately 3-5 blooms per tree) the first spring, but have failed to bloom for the past three springs. The pink dogwood has had only 1-2 blooms each spring. Our soil tends toward the acidic. I use shredded oak leaves for mulch. I do not feed the trees. The white dogwood were planted near a dense pachasandra ground cover. DO you have any ideas as to the problem? Trees show new growth each year and appear healthy, but the lack of blooms is disappointing. Thank you.
I have 1 white dogwood tree that was blooming when it was purchased but has not bloomed in the past two years. what am I doing wrong? I live in michigan. Thanks...
I also live in Michigan and have a dogwood tree that doesn't bloom. It was planted three years ago and is now about 9 feet tall. The foliage is quite compact but it seems to be thriving and has added new growth. Any tips?
Cold winters killing flower buds? Too much shade? Somebody viewing the specimens in person would likely have a better idea what might be happening.
I had the same problem with my wisteria vine. after research i discovered plants need phosphorus to encourage bloom and nitrogen for green growth. I purchased a product called superphosphate. I hope this works for you.
DO NOT apply superphosphate without a soil test report in front of you that indicates a need for doing so. http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda Chalker-Scott/Horticultural Myths_files/Myths/Phosphate.pdf
I suspect they're simply too young at the moment. The odd few flowers in the first year is a fairly common one-off happening, maybe the nursery treated them in some way, or maybe just the stress of being moved caused them to flower. Now they're settling in and devoting all their energy to producing roots, leaves and branches. Give them a few more years and they should start flowering well.
Likewise, small camellias may come from nursery loaded with flower buds then grow in garden for years before resuming flowering. Probably just a difference between intensive cultural practices used by grower and more normal conditions of home garden.
What may apply to some Washington and other but certainly not all Pacific Northwest soils does not necessarily apply elsewhere. There are many soils that are not overly laden with phosphorous, indeed, there may be more soils that are closer to being deficient in elemental phosphorous in the US. With Dogwoods asking why does my plant not bloom can better be asked, what prevented my plant from setting flower buds? When people asked us the question the old way, on the phone or in person our first question to them was what kind of Dogwood is it? Was is a Cornus florida, Cornus kousa, Cornus kousa chinensis, Cornus nuttallii, which one? We have to have a basis, a foundation to start with so we start with which kind of Dogwood. Then we ask about cultural techniques used, such as the watering method, soil type, any soil amendments used, what kind of fertilizer regimen was used and which fertilizers were used if any and at what application rates. We try to learn as much about the plants setting, how it has been taken care of the light factors and an overview of the history of the plant before we can make any qualified analysis of what is causing the bud set problem. For several forms of Dogwoods we need to know of any temperature fluctuations that have occurred right after bloom as we have found that night time cooling along with mid day bright sun has a dramatic impact on whether a Dogwood will set flower buds for next year or not. Many people tend to over fertilize Dogwoods but it is their timing of their application that messes up the plants biological system to set buds when the fertilizer is making the plant set out elongated shoots instead. If the shoots cannot stop growing in a critical one to two month span about six weeks after the plant has bloomed then the plant will not set buds. In cooler climates such as Lake Tahoe and where my naturalized Dogwoods are at a 5,500 foot elevation near Yosemite many Dogwoods fail to set buds due to an imbalance of nutrients in the soil. Herein is why a bloom fertilizer becomes even more critical for Dogwoods as Dogwoods require available potassium and phosphorous to aid in their flower formation. Yes, in general, most forest type soils may have what appears from a soil analysis ample phosphorous in the soil but in what form is that phosphorous in, in other words is the phosphorous locked up or is the phosphorous readily available for the plant to utilize. In many cases in a forest situation the phosphorous is bound up which the soil test does not tell us. We may have to use a spectrophotometer and get a read out from it to better know in what form the current state of phosphorous is in, in the soil. A soil test will determine the presence and in some cases depending on the type of test the concentration of phosphorous but it will not tell us in what form that phosphorous is in. We need to know if the nutrient is locked up or not and then how to unbound it if it is indeed locked up. Temperature becomes rather important in a cooler climate as Dogwoods prefer warmth during the day yet like night time cooling to set buds. Not much different than many areas are with certain "Himalayan" forms and "Himalayan hybrids" of deciduous Magnolias. Many areas of the US have had almost a constant temperature in recent years in which the day time temps are real close to being the same as the night time temps have been. This is a disaster situation for most Dogwoods to set flower buds. The tree cannot figure out what it should do, should it try to grow to sustain itself or should the Dogwood grow then stop, set buds and then continue on and grow after the buds have been set. With an almost constant and really not a variable temperature difference of day and night the Dogwood, same as the Magnolia, will want to grow and not stop and set buds. The plants actually are too happy with the evenness of the temperatures, so happy in fact they forget to set flower buds in the process. I went through this for a number of years with a pink bordered white Kousa in that when the plant should have stopped to set flower buds it kept right on growing even without any Nitrogen applications in an iron oxide rich gravely soil. This condition for me was more due to the fact that when the plant should have stopped to set buds the high temperatures for the day were only five to seven degrees warmer than the cooling night time temps were. Not enough of a fluctuating extreme to force the plant to stop its shoot initiation and shoot elongation process. A basic rule of thumb with Dogwoods to keep in mind when asking for help with no bud set is what are your day and night time temps? Do you ever give the plant Nitrogen when it is in bloom or right after it bloomed. How well did you water in the fertilizer? How much sunlight does the plant get during an average day as too much shade will preclude bud set with most but not all forms of Dogwoods. All of the above is not even taking into account the soil type, any soil and soil pH issues and the watering practices. Jim
Jim, thanks for your information. I have a similar problem with my Kousa, except it did bloom, beautifully the second year after planting, but this year I only got about 3 blossoms. Here in the Pacific N.W., we usually don't have the problem of warm nights...things generally cool down nicely. Do the buds set in the Fall? If so, that may be it, since we had a warm autumn, up through November, then a very frozen, three-week cold/snow snap. Could that be the problem?
Thanks for this information. I have the same concern about the dogwood tree in my yard. I was wondering if this was normal. What you said about them devoting their energy to growing roots seems to make perfect sense. I will just be patient and let them do their thing and see what happens over the next few years. Thank you.
You might try adding Epsom salts to the ground around your trees before a heavy rain. Or dissolve the salts in a 5-gal. bucket and then water the tree. I can't recall how much salt per gallon of water, but a search should provide you with the right proportion. This technique has helped my dogwood bloom profusely year after year. Kevin in KC
