Gardening ? (Tallahassee: appointed, Home Depot, buying)

[ChrisNY]

I have a nice Healthy looking Bottlebrush tree that I transplanted this early Spring. It looks great except there is no sign of flowers. Does anyone have a name of or favorite fertilizer they can reccommend for me?

Thanks

[Robyn55]

I assume you live in this area. If so - bottle brush flowering season is coming to an end. What probably happened is that by transplanting in the early spring - you forced the plant to use its energy on its root system - not its flowers. I wouldn't fertilize now (which will force the plant to use energy to put out new growth on top). Just let it be - and get used to its new location. You shouldn't have any problems with flowering next year (assuming you haven't had problems with flowering in the past). Robyn

[fsu813]

Organic Mechanic's products work amazing....

In this case, the worm casting "tea" would make a difference i'd wager.....

Organic Potting Soil - Organic Mechanics

[JimRom]

As Robyn pointed out, you shocked the tree by transplanting when you did. Live without flowers this year, maybe give it a periodic light feeding of organic fertilizer over the growing season to keep it healthy (I agree with fsu, the worm casting tea is great for just about anything... except human consumption) and watch the flowers bloom next year.

[grsPAFL]

Milorganite was recommended by the nurseryman who came out to inspect my bottlebrushes. It has a off smell but it doesn't last long.
Bottlebrushes experience significant transplant shock. I bought 2 very large specimens 2+ years ago, and they are still getting on their feet.

To anybody else reading this thread - don't bother with large sizes of this tree. Save your money and get a small one and wait for it to take off.

[Robyn55]

Milorganite is kind of a PITA because the recommended way to use it is by drilling holes aounrd your tree - and pouring it in the holes. I used it on a couple of new oaks we had when they were young - and can't say it made a difference. I think the goal in gardening this year is to get rid of what's dead - and give all the cold damaged plants some R&R. It is a very unusual year. I was up at Phillip's nursery in Avondale today - and it said it couldn't find 3 gallon porterweed anywhere in Florida for love or money. Had to settle for a couple of scrawny 1 gallon plants (which will probably look fine in a couple of months). Robyn

[Keith-n-Jax]

A transplanted Bottle brush this yr may bloom late in the fall. I use slow release palm fertilizer on all my plants.

[fsu813]

phillips is overpriced but the presentation is beautiful

[Robyn55]

I don't shop at Phillips very often (because it's pretty far away) - but I go there at least once every spring. It tends to carry some "butterfly/hummingbird" plants - like the porterweed I mentioned above - that I can't find anywhere else. Also - it was nice enough to special order a couple of porterweeds for me this year (since its regular suppliers hadn't delivered any yet this spring).

I think I hit just about every garden place in the greater Jax area at least once every spring to look around and pick out plants for my butterfly/hummingbird/herb garden. Some big box places - like Home Depot. Some local nurseries - like Plant Ranch. The garden expo down at the St. Johns County agricultural center (where you can get some unusual plants - like yellow cestrum). Even found some nice true red non-hybrid (tall) pentas at Mulchmasters this year (when I was ordering mulch) - they're a hummingbird favorite. I think I wind up paying more for the gas than I do for the plants - but it's a lot of fun looking and planning the garden every year (a lot of these plants are annuals - so the garden changes every year).

One thing I do - and suggest trying - is buying some stuff that will give you flowers/color through the fall and into the early winter. Plants in this category include cassia - confederate rose - and most Sasanqua camellias. The confederate rose is really neat - since the flowers go from white to deep pink very quickly (like in a day or so). Sometimes they actually go from white to pink if you put them on the dinner table and you're having a long dinner.

FWIW - the prettiest nursery in this general part of the world IMO is Tallahassee Nurseries (guess you can figure out where that one is). Robyn

P.S. Mulchmasters sells my favorite mulch (as well as lots of other things) - ground up pine bark (not nuggets). In bulk or in bags. And its delivery charges are very reasonable (the days of filling up the back of our pick up truck with mulch are over!). It's a pretty natural color - is more environmentally friendly than cypress - and doesn't "mat" like cypress (it's long lasting but eventually decomposes into dirt).

[grsPAFL]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

\
P.S. Mulchmasters sells my favorite mulch (as well as lots of other things) - ground up pine bark (not nuggets). In bulk or in bags. \

Robyn55 - Would that be FINE PINE or MINI-NUGGETS? Fine pine is a pureed shred and the mini-nuggets are a lot smaller than the trip-over bark chunks.

We just went with Fine Pine and I see a lot of weeds popping up. While it's easy to pull or hoe them out, I'm disappointed that it's acting like a rooting medium.