Thanx guys! To make the "recipe" short: a lot of caring around and lighting the inflow. The ingredients are below. Take a lot of light We have very long days up north here during the summer with sun light from 3am to 10pm. I try to have my plumies out on the balcony as long as the temperatures and wind allow. If the summer is not too bad I normally get a tiny inflow by the end of July. After that it'll need at least two months to bloom. The problem is that already in September the temperature here is around 10C (50F), which is too cold to have the plants outside. From the end of August I let them stay mostly inside near the east-south facing window where they get at best a few hours of sun per day. Last year I had a god inflow, but all shells just fall off without opening. This year when it started falling off again I decided to try to add some lights. I bought some cheap IKEA lamps and 24-25W energy saving bulbs (or rather spirals) and placed them directly above the inflow, but so that it doesn't burn the leaves or the inflow. Here how it looks like: It doesn't look pretty, but it won't ruin you on electricity bills and it does the job. I have both day light bulbs and more yellow ones and I noticed that even 24W day light is brighter then 25W yellow and the flowers respond better to the first one too with more color. Heat it up When there is no inflow my plumies don't mind to be outside if it's not cooler then 13C (55F) by night. When you have an inflow never expose it to the temperatures below 16C (60F) even if it's sunny. Otherwise the buds will get black tips and fall off. During the winter the temperature in our flat is always 24C (75F) and all my plumies are growing fine. None of them had ever gone dormant and I have about 2' of new growth per year, which I believe helps to set the inflows during the short summer. Add water and the "spices" I like to have about 1" thick layer of fine sand on top of the soil mix in my tropical plants' pots. I think it adds some tropical touch and more important it tells me when it's time to water. If the sand is dry - it's time. During the hot summer days it can be as often as every second day, while in the winter (my plants never sleep) I water them two times a week. Once a week I care them to the bathroom and thoroughly shower then I fertilize with Schultz BloomPlus Plant Food with NPK 10-54-10. This year I also add some Superthrive to the fertilizer and spray the foliage once a week with Spray-n-Grow. As for Superthrive I can tell it really boosts the roots. With the Spray-n-Grow I can't be sure, but I think the branches get thicker faster. Protect it When the plants are outside the wind is my enemy. Potted plumies seams to be made for the wind to through them around. After losing one branch I made a counterforce system to fix my biggest tree. Another big enemy is spider mites! I get them every year:( By showering and swiping with some soap solution you can keep them under control, but never get rid of them. Tried some chemicals and almost killed my darlings... The only way to get rid of spider mites I found is to get some predatory mites (Phytoseiulus persimilis). It will take about a month for them to get in charge, but then they will eat all the adult spider mites, their larvae and eggs. Then they will starve and die... Here is one more picture of my pride:) Off topic, but I wanted also to show you my Musa Velutina (Pink banana) flower just coming out:

Hi, Lisa Su, and Friends, I guess I caught rose fever and took to ordering and planning more roses for spring in last few days to add to above orders.... I started looking up your roses and found ones I wished to add to my gardens... so I have ordered a few more also..... Souvenir de la Malmaison, Boubon 1843 rose, strong fragrance...nice big bush w/big blooms....for my femce border... Clotilde Soupert, polyantha , nearly thornless, strong moderate fragrance...actually may be a small rose that blooms in intense clusters like The Fairy...for my front hillside ground cover... And I’m planning on adding China Doll polyantha and Elegant Fairy Tale Roses to lower part of back yard hill, waiting for them to come available to order.... Oh, to plan my dream gardens. I now am up to 88 roses... roses in front yard...roses down side of house and lining back yard and some on hill by spring.... 20 new roses so far coming to plant....fun..fun.... Soon to sleep...per chance to dream...of roses...roses...roses.... oh, my! Post your photos, too? What are you favorites to have this spring? Happy Gardening! Kitty

I wish mine looked like Sheila’s. Here she is very narrow and upright. perfect for a hedge on a small space. I have like 6 plants close together because they are so narrow. There are 3-4 years old grafted plants maybe with age they would turn nice and full like Sheila’s Here the individual plants are more noticeable

Hi everyone, I've been trying to track down Queen of Sweden for a few months now. I've checked the big nurseries around me and no one seems to carry it. Does anyone know when and where I can find this rose in the GTA (Toronto) area? I tried ordering it straight from the David Austin website, but I had to call in and by the time I did, it went out of stock. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!