Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Hound's-tongue bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Hound's-tongue, Gypsy Flower, Dog's Tongue, Common Hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale).

More about hound's-tongue

About Hound's-tongue

Cynoglossum officinale · also called Hound's-tongue, Gypsy Flower · flowering

Hound's-tongue is a biennial or short-lived perennial native to Europe and temperate Asia, widely naturalised in North America. It thrives in dry, disturbed ground, roadsides, and chalk grassland in full sun with free-draining, low-fertility soil. The most important care fact for cultivated settings is to avoid over-watering and rich soil, which cause lax, floppy growth. This plant is toxic to pets and livestock due to pyrrolizidine alkaloid content.

Plant type: flowering

Watch for — Failure to flower (etiolation): Insufficient sunlight or over-fertile soil causes large, soft leaves but no flowering stem in the second year — move to a sunnier, poorer site.

The reasons hound's-tongue isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming hound's-tongue 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 hound's-tongue 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 hound's-tongue to flower

Maximise sun. Give hound's-tongue 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 hound's-tongue and get the feeding right with the hound's-tongue 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

Hound's-tongue 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 hound's-tongue care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Hound's-tongue blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my hound's-tongue flower?

Hound's-tongue 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 hound's-tongue bloom?

Give hound's-tongue 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 hound's-tongue normally bloom?