Edwin Spector wrote in message ...
Leslie Stringer wrote:

I planted a Philadelphus 'Virginal' shrub more than 2 years ago. The plant
appears to be healthy but it has never flowered. [...]


Mine didn't flower until its third year. Then I found I didn't like the smell.

A good mulch of good compost or well-rotted farmyard muck every spring
will get it going. Best to keep the stuff three or four inches away
from the base of the stem, though, in case it harbours a fungus. It's
not spring, but now's a perfectly good time to put the first mulch on.

If you use growbags, this mulching is a great way to use the contents
after cropping. If you haven't got compost etc, it would be worth
buying the cheapest growbag you can find just for this job. Scatter a
bit of general fertiliser around first, pricking it in if you can get
at it. Or you can give it your lawn-mowings.

This treatment will most often also revive an old philadelphus which
has stopped flowering well.

I hope you don't have Leslie's problem with the smell!

Mike.