Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Blue Fescue bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called elijah blue fescue, blue fescue (Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue').

More about blue fescue

About Blue Fescue

Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' · also called elijah blue fescue, blue fescue · flowering

'Elijah Blue' is the classic blue fescue, a small evergreen hummock of needle-fine, powder-blue foliage prized for its colour and tidy spherical form. It thrives in full sun and lean, sharp-draining soil, sending up wispy tan flower spikes in early summer. A cool-season grass, it is widely used for edging, gravel gardens, and containers in US and UK plantings.

Plant type: flowering

The reasons blue fescue isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming blue fescue traces back to one of these, roughly in order of how common they are:

Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.
Too much nitrogen feed, driving lush foliage at the expense of flowers (very common with general or lawn feeds).
The plant has not been deadheaded, so it stops flowering once it sets seed.
Irregular watering — drought or waterlogging at the budding stage makes buds abort.
It is still too young or was checked by a transplant and is rebuilding before flowering.

Feeding blue fescue a high-nitrogen general feed and growing it in too little sun — you get a big leafy plant and almost no flowers.

The fix — how to get blue fescue to flower

Maximise sun. Give blue fescue the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers.
Switch the feed. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.
Deadhead regularly. Remove spent flowers often to keep it producing more rather than stopping to set seed.
Water consistently. Keep moisture even through budding and flowering — drought-then-flood swings make buds drop.

Light and feeding do most of the heavy lifting here. Dial in the spot with the light guide for blue fescue and get the feeding right with the blue fescue fertilising schedule — the wrong feed (too much nitrogen) is one of the most common silent reasons a healthy plant makes leaves instead of flowers.

Bloom season and what to expect

Blue Fescue flowers across its growing season (mostly summer) and, kept fed and deadheaded, can bloom for many weeks or right up to frost.

Post-bloom care so it flowers again

Deadhead, keep feeding lightly, and many will rebloom; collect seed from the best plants at the end of the season if you want to grow them again.

For everything else this plant needs day to day, see the full blue fescue care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Blue Fescue blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my blue fescue flower?

Blue Fescue blooms on the season's growth given enough sun, warmth and the right feed — there is no cold or photoperiod trick, just good growing conditions and a bloom-leaning feed. The most common reason it is not happening: Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.

How do I make blue fescue bloom?

Give blue fescue the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.

When does blue fescue normally bloom?