I have a row of 8 planted on the south side of a wood fence, with ice plant at their feet. The three on the east/right end were planted from *fresh* seed at the same time (1.5 years ago), and sprouted together. I'd planted two together, in two places, but only pulled one sprout out, of the couple one spot from the end of the row. That remaining plant is behaving somewhat differently from the others, in that it has grown more upright (in training them all as small trees, I haven't had to remove any branches from that one yet) *and* although all the others have been opening flowers for about two weeks, this one has yet to show any yellow from its buds.
On the other side of the fence is a travel trailer with a permanent resident, and soon after it was brought in I stopped the owner from attaching its grey water &-sludge *directly* to their leach line, but now I'm wondering what they are doing with that stuff . . . considering that one year since then volunteer bush sunflowers grew well there . . . although I never watered them that entire, hot summer.
So . . . every time I look in the direction of this row of bushes, I again wonder why that one bush grows more upright than the others, and is taking longer to open its flowers. The ground there is not completely level, but the ups & downs aren't very high, either.
Is it more likely that the bush is encountering something below ground that is affecting how it behaves, or, that it inherited slightly different DNA pattern than the others? Its flowers from last year looked the same as those on the others, though, so I don't suspect hybridization with a Yellow Bird of Paradise tree (the nursery between 1 & 2 miles away has some of those, but, I don't know whether they ever hybridize).
In future when I save seeds from them, I'm thinking of focusing on the seeds from this one plant . . .
but, sure wish I knew why it is taking longer to open its flowers! Our hummingbirds don't like to wait!
What would delay flowering in a Desert Bird of Paradise bush
You hit on two possibilities -
Slightly different DNA - more likely with seed grown vs cuttings.
More nitrogen fertilizer (grey water) can cause more vegetative growth at the expense of fruit and flowers.
There is a 3rd possibility: less sun, more shade. That can cause taller leggier growth, and cooler soil which causes later flowering.
Or some combination of the above.
Thank You for your comments, 'pollengarden'!
However, there isn't really more vegetative growth, it is just more upright than the growth of the others.
There is no less sunlight / no more shade for this one than the other two that were planted at the same time.
These latest plantings didn't at first, but now have ice-plant at their feet, like the others had before them in the row.
And all of those have been blooming for a couple of weeks already, including the 'twins' beside it that were planted at the same time as the one in question.
So, maybe it's just DNA differences . . . Or, maybe *too much dampness* from nextdoor plays a part . . . I can see *that* hampering their flower power . . . They do best with good drainage and the soil drying out between waterings. A gopher tunnel diverted water to one of mine before, and it did *not* do well at all!
But, 2 of the flowers on the one in question *did* open today. (:
This message was edited Apr 10, 2014 9:33 PM
I have a new place in Palm Sp love those plants have one large orange one in front. Planting from seed gives you more variety in variation. My mom was so thankful I was 6-1, she always had a kitchen cabinet open when I arrived. She had shrunk to 5-1.
I'll do anything to get hummers around.
