If the Kolkwitzia refuses to give us its flowers, the disappointment is boundless. Because the small, shimmering works of art are what make them so beautiful. But it doesn't have to come to that. It is enough to know and avoid possible causes of flower failure.
Why isn't my Kolkwitzia blooming?
If your Kolkwitzia isn't blooming, it could be due to incorrect location, over-fertilization or improper pruning. Make sure you get enough sunlight, avoid unnecessary fertilizing and only prune when necessary.
May to June is flowering time
Every year in late spring the time has come: the Kolkwitzia blooms. Or not! A cold spring can cause the flowering period to start late for all Kolkwitzia varieties, but it won't stop flowering altogether. So there must be other reasons why the shrub withholds its delicate pink flowers from us.
Possible causes of flower poverty
Potential causes of flower failure can be found in the living conditions and care of the Kolkwitzia. There are three possible ones:
- Wrong location
- Overfertilization
- pruning
Wrong location
A lot of sunlight is a flower elixir for the mother-of-pearl bush, as the Kolkwitzia is also called. If this flower guarantee is missing, the small flowers cannot be seen or not as abundant as we would like.
So that the sad sight doesn't repeat itself year after year, you have to optimize an unsuitable location by cutting back plants that provide shade. You can also transplant a young Kolkwitzia. The busy bees also love the Kolkwitzia and will be happy about better flowering times.
Overfertilization
The Kolkwitzia is special in that, unlike many shrubs, it hardly requires any nutrients. In the garden it does not need any fertilization and the soil can even be poor. Only if the soil is very poor in nutrients can you fertilize modestly with compost during the flowering period.
A large amount of nutrients produces many flowers. The owner of a mother-of-pearl bush can think in a similar way and fertilize it abundantly. However, the flowers of this shrub suffer from oversupply.
Tip
Water the soil area with plenty of water to flush out as many nutrients as possible. Of course, further fertilization must also be stopped at the same time.
pruning
The mother-of-pearl bush is not cut in the first few years and is then only thinned out if necessary. But if its size becomes excessive or the bush becomes bare, it needs to be cut more radically. In this case, the flowering will fail the following year or will at least be significantly reduced. Time will solve this problem because the bush will sprout more.
