A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Japanesse Snowball

I have had my Japanesse Snowball Bush for almost 3 years now and the foilage is doing very well and has grown tremendously since I first got it and seems to do well each year. My question is, does anyone happen to know when it will bloom and get the huge white clusters of flowers? I keep waiting every year but it hasn't bloomed yet.

I dont have any hands on experience with the Jap. snowball bush, but I do know that the amount of sunlight and adding a high phosphate fert. can affect flower production on most plants. Your plant has a minimum sunlight requirment in order to produce flowers and it could be possible that your plant is not getting that required amount. Adding a fert. with a higher middle number: 15-30-15, etc.. could correct that. I guess the first thing I would do is research that plant and see what it favors....

what amount of sunlight does it get? have you pruned it at all?

sometimes they take a couple of years to bloom.

mine bloomed very early this year, and i planted it last fall. i was a little disappointed because the blooms only lasted for a week or so, but they were pretty!

how big is yours and what zone are you in?

I use fertilizer on it and it has done wonders for the growth. It wasn't even a foot tall when i first got it and now it's 4 by 4. It gets shade in the morning and sun during the day and then shade again in the evening. I am in zone 6. I pruned it for the first time this year, late winter to early spring I think is when I did that.

Jenn,

I looked up some info on that bush, Viburnum Plicatum, and you are in the right zone and sunlight requirement. However, it states
not to do any pruning until after it flowers, which starts in May. Also, check the fert. you have been using and let us know the analysis (10-15-10,etc..)It may be a combination of several factors such as that it was too young to flower the past couple of years and now it is ready to flower except that you pruned the plant too early and cut off the ends that would have flowered this year. You may also be feeding the wrong type of fert. and are encouraging plant growth rather than flower production. Make sure to use a high phosphate fert. and dont prune until after May of next year if at all and see what happens...