Mock Orange?

Question

I have a philadelphus coronarius aureus. Every year when it blooms, the flowers are hidden by excess leaf/ stem growth which gives the appearance that the bush is blooming internally! I prune it with shears in June when the flowers have finished, back to its globular shape. Quite some growth needs to be taken off as by this time the bush has nearly doubled in size. How can I get the flowers visible? What am I doing, or not doing, wrong?

Answer 1

One possibility is that the soil is too rich or it's getting too much nitrogen based fertiliser. Switch to a high potash feed in spring. That will encourage flowers but not green growth

Answer 2

Prune your philadelphus from July onwards till September. Give the shrub a chance to gain a bit of height. My plant is 2 to 3 metres high. I cut back not more than a third of its growth, i.e I thin out, not shorten the growth. Try not to rigorously cut it into a globular shape. Let it get a more natural shape by allowing some shoots to grow longer than others. Then you will see that those longer branches are the ones that bring the best flowers next season. Keep a few older shoots, the older wood produces more flowers. In early spring, remove a lot of the new suckers that grow out. They snap off easily. This will control the tendency to bushy growth.
By cutting off too much each year, the plant is over-reacting and producing much more growth. Pruning near the end of the growing season brings less over-growth in Spring.

Answer 3

Hi! It may be a varietal issue or overly rich conditions as one commentor suggested. I have a piece of old mock orange that I received from a decades old plant taken from an Ohio farm. It blooms well with most of the blooms visible above the foliage. Toward the end of the bloom cycle some of the blooms are hidden by rapid growth of new wood. The plant is in a woodline and receives no care other than to cut it back after bloom.

I hope this has been useful.

Answer 4

I am assuming you are speaking of the Pittosporum plant. This plant is not typically grown for its flowers, rather the foliage. The flowers do have a pleasant smell, but are somewhat short lived and insignificant. Try fertilizing with a food that has a high middle number (i.e 15-30-15) to promote blooming. If you are going for fragrance, plant a night blooming jessamine or a everblooming gardenia.

Answer 5

It is not necessary to prune it hard and regularly. The finest flowering specimens are the ones that are left alone. Use a high potash feed in spring, and leave it alone. In Nature there are no shears !