Remontant bloom

One of my favorite horticultural sights is confused plants that flower out of their typical bloom time sequence.  The wonderful term we use to describe this phenomenon is "remontant," which is derived from the French verb “remonter,” and translates to “rising again” or “coming up again.”  In this case, it is used to describe plants that bloom more than once a year.  We also use terms like “recurrent” or “repeat bloomer”.  In the world of plants and horticulture, this trait or ability is considered extremely desirable because people just love blooms and flowers!...

This is the time of year that concerned citizens call into the office asking what they can do to help magnolias or rhododendrons in their landscape to not die.  When asked what is happening to lead them to believe the plants are going to die, the plant symptoms indicating imminent death turn out to be exactly the same.   Concern is expressed for plants that previously bloomed this Spring and are right now beginning to bloom again!  This behavior has somehow evolved into a mythical belief that it is a last-ditch effort by the plant to make seeds so that its progeny can...