Clerodendrum Thomsoniae (Bleeding Heart) Why Don't I Have More Blooms?

[CandeeKis]

I have a beautiful Clerodendrum Thomsoniae (bleeding heart) that has lush green leaves and I have it growing on a heart shaped trellis. It is very showy but I am hardly getting any blooms on it. I have it in a partial shaded area - Ive given it some flowering plant food and baby the thing like its one of the kids. Any tips or ideas on why it isnt flowering and how I can get it to produce more than it is? I do know from previous years that pinching leaves back seems to encourage blooming, but that doesnt seem to be helping this time.

[MickiS]

Don't know if this will help much but I totally ignore my bleeding hearts...and I do mean totally.the soil is sandy and not very fertile, and they have bloomed profusely for years in slight shade. They die back rather quickly though if planted in bright sunshine.

[Eric La Fountaine]

I don't know much about this one. Maybe this write-up from the Kemper center will help:
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/P....asp?code=B663

I wonder about the winter cool period.

[CandeeKis]

Thanks so much for the feedback and information. That could have been the problem (with the being in bright sunshine) I recently moved it to a shady spot under the overhang of my patio and it started getting a 'few' more blooms but nothing like I had on a previous plant.

As far as winter - I kept my previous plant alive for several years before it went toes up. I have it planted in a really large pot with a heart shaped trellis that fits into the pot for it to grow around. It does tend to lose most of it's leaves by the end of winter, but rebounded nicely in the spring. From that info in the article with the link, it says to severely cut it back late winter or early spring. Since this current plant that has not bloomed well it may very well be that since this was a brand new chute that I planted in spring, there was not any 'cutting back' or pruning which may be another reason it didn't do as well as I wanted.

Again....thanks for the replies and information.

[acountryboyinthecity]

Hi

Just a point about lighting, there is a plant that is on the ferry going to Bowen island every day of the year and it flowers non-stop all year. It is next to a window and presumably it gets the sun only half day because ferry is constantly changing directions. The plant is practically in full sun when the ferry is heading to the mainland. The soil is dry and contains very little peat and by feeling the soil, I can only imagine that it is tortured. It reminds me of a Clematis. When I left mine in full sun, watered it infrequently, didn't fertilize so basically neglected it, it flowered profusely. When a colleague did the opposite in full sun, it produced some great looking leaves. This might be a trick you might want to consider, if you take an older stem of the plant and snap it in half and it breaks quite easily like a toothpick even with enough water, then chances are it is drought tolerant and enjoys a bit of torture.

JP