Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Princess Flower bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Princess flower, Glory bush, Purple glory tree, Lasiandra, Pleroma urvilleanum (Tibouchina urvilleana).

More about princess flower

About Princess Flower

Tibouchina urvilleana · also called Princess flower, Glory bush · flowering

Princess flower (Tibouchina urvilleana) is a tropical evergreen shrub prized for velvety leaves and royal-purple, five-petalled blooms. Give it full sun, consistently moist acidic soil, warmth, and frost protection. It is not individually listed by the ASPCA, so treat it as a possible mild irritant around pets and verify with your vet.

Plant type: flowering

Watch for — Leggy growth, few flowers: Too little light produces sparse, stretched stems. Move to full sun and pinch the growing tips after flowering to encourage branching and more blooms.

The reasons princess flower isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming princess flower 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 princess flower 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 princess flower to flower

Maximise sun. Give princess flower 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 princess flower and get the feeding right with the princess flower 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

Princess Flower 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 princess flower care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Princess Flower blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my princess flower flower?

Princess Flower 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 princess flower bloom?

Give princess flower 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 princess flower normally bloom?