"Vox Humana" wrote in message
. ..

BTW, they begin blooming when
extremely small, and I had many blossoms the first year after I planted
them.

I have one that I planted about 4 years ago. It was only a few inches
high,
and bloomed the second year. It seeds itself easily and now I have
several
that I need to remove. The problem I am experiencing is that the flowers
are falling off just before they open. The entire stem breaks off where
it
meets the branch. I don't see any insects or obvious disease.

The only time I've seen buds dry up and fall off is when they receive
insufficient moisture. I have a single along the road that receives little
moisture in the summer unless I make it a point to use the hose on it, which
is seldom. It was loaded with blossoms when we had a couple of heavy rains
earlier, but most of the buds it produces now dry up and fall off before
opening in 90+ heat without any measurable rain for the past three weeks. It
does produce occasional blossoms that half open.

BTW, the one benefit about the doubles that I really like is that neither
produces seeds. I'm not constantly weeding out small plants. I do deadhead
the single when I remember because it is a prolific seed producer.

JPS