I was told to scratch bone meal in the soil in the fall, but forgot to do it. Usually I stir one teaspoon in the bottom when I plant, but forgot on the last batch, and those are not as tall as my Star Gazers and various other ones including orientals, were very short when I put them in last spring, but got some pretty, huge blooms out of several.

Other than that, I spray them with kelp solution (not when it's going to be sunny or rainy before it dries!) and also think Ortho bloom booster sprinkled around on the soil helps make them stronger and grow better. Also compost and mulching helps.

If you don't mix bone meal with some dirt when you plant, it might burn the roots, so it's important to do that right.

Regular Miracle Gro I used once, but think I'll stick with the time release bloom booster from now on and kelp, compost and mulch when I get around to it. Luckily they can fare pretty well without as much water as most plants.

Here's a picture of my 3 bulbs of Orienpet 'Shocking'. We don't fertilize but do top dress everything in early spring with 6" of 50/50 leaf mold/manure. This picture was taken July 21, 2007. This year, I've got 9 stalks. They are planted on the west side of the house so get full afternoon sun & are planted in very organic soil. They throw so many flowers the fragrance is almost overbearingly powerful. I'm still 6 weeks from bloom & they are about 5' & growing...

{{gwi:239852}}

/tricia