Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Hosta 'Love Pat' bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Love Pat Plantain Lily (Hosta 'Love Pat').

More about hosta 'love pat'

About Hosta 'Love Pat'

Hosta 'Love Pat' · also called Love Pat Plantain Lily · flowering

Hosta 'Love Pat' is a medium-to-large cultivar prized for its intensely cupped, deeply ribbed blue-grey leaves with a powdery wax coating that deters slugs. It grows well in partial to full shade and produces pale lavender flowers in midsummer. Hardy and slow-growing. Toxic to dogs, cats, and horses.

Plant type: flowering

The reasons hosta 'love pat' isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming hosta 'love pat' 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 hosta 'love pat' 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 hosta 'love pat' to flower

Maximise sun. Give hosta 'love pat' 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 hosta 'love pat' and get the feeding right with the hosta 'love pat' 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

Hosta 'Love Pat' 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 hosta 'love pat' care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Hosta 'Love Pat' blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my hosta 'love pat' flower?

Hosta 'Love Pat' 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 hosta 'love pat' bloom?

Give hosta 'love pat' 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 hosta 'love pat' normally bloom?