I live in BC Canada. We have had a A princess plant for 5 years now. Has anyone ever got one to flower in the spring or summer ? We purchased ours in Alberta .It was sold there as an annual. Ours blooms beautifully just before we have to bring it in for the winter . We put it it in our garage. What a pity. We have a wonderful view from the car.Can I at least bring it in the house for awhile? We have lived with this plant for 5 years now hauling it in and our every year.. Its a nice green plant in the summer & has wonderful blooms in our garage . Someone today said they brought a princess plant in bloom. Its now June & ours is just starting to get green leaves. Is there a different in plants from one Province to the next? It got me curious today as why someone has a bloomer in the summer. We cut this plant back in the spring & its in a pot (The roots go through the pot every year into the garden .It must want to stay in the garden) ANY ideas on what to do. PS we had 2 but made the mistake of putting one in the garden. IT died
It blooms in response to the number day-lengths at 12 hours it's had in combo with warm weather, Pudzzy, which for you means in the fall it gets the kind of light/dark ratio that it wants along with the temperatures that tell it that it's safe to throw flowers. You can absolutely bring it in to the house and treat it like a houseplant, without doing it any damage at all, and in fact you can keep it blooming by regulating the amount of light it gets. Just make sure that it stays warm and moist (mist it), and keep it to a 12-hour light/dark cycle. If you do decide to keep it in the garage this year, and then have a particularly warm spring, as you didn't have this year in BC, you'll get outdoor flowers in the summer as well. I live within the native range of this tree, and it blooms year-round for me - I'll stress that I live very close to the equator, and my days don't vary in length more than 30 minutes either way. RE- the roots. In nature, this tree grows on fairly severe slopes, and the roots go quite deep to hold it there. People here actually plant Tibouchinas to prevent landslides during the rainy season. Personally, I'd get it a honking big, deep pot to allow the roots some room to expand, and then put that pot on a little trolley so that I could wheel it around the garden.
Ours has behaved exactly the same...frustrating to wait all summer for flower buds and finally those gorgeous flowers. As mentioned it must be daylength related...I've heard they flower almost year-round in southern California where they are left in the ground. Not so up here... The flowering specimens for sale are greenhouse grown and with supplemental heat are growing away much earlier in the spring when the nights are longer...they will probably stop budding now until later in the summer, but do look tempting at the garden centres!
Thanks I wish I lived close to the equator> SUN all year Wow. Hi to Surrey. Guess I will just enjoy it the way it is .You are right about the greenhouse grow in summer. Mine was in flower when we bought it also in the summer. As for the pot it is a large one. I think the plant just likes to throw a few roots out of the bottom to show who is boss . Here is the plant today .Do you think I will get a bloom again & is the pot big enough?
Bigger! Bigger! You should have at least 3" of soil all around the edges of the plant to allow enough space for the roots to grow.
Wow .If I tranplant it right now will it still bloom?.I dont want to disturb it while its still growing. Should I do this after it blooms & i cut it back? I always thought flowering plants like to be pot bound .I have many that bloom now in small pots.I heard that it gives the engery to the roots not the flowers if they are in large pots. You should see my cactus .Hardly any soil at all & its blooms lovely . I have not repoted in 8 years. Just top up the soil once in awhile . The house plants are mine The garden my hubbys .BUT the Princess plant I bought as a gift for my mom & one for my Dad .( mom passed away) My Dad gave it to me after as well as his ( one did not make it in the garden) This is my Christmas Cactus
I'm not sure about other plants (very little that I have is in pots) but I do know that the Tibouchina needs to have space or it won't feel comfy about flowering.
