I look forward with interest to the feedback received on this one also. I've also a hedge of these starting - planted out only early winter and like you I've experienced yellowing of the lower leaves. I think it might be attributed to the cold ...and not enough sunshine where I have mine planted out. Hoping the warmer months will make some much needed changes and help them move along. I have touched them up with some Banana Special fertiliser which the nurseryman told me is excellent feeder to everything bar natives.

Oh no!!! When I read this I realised that this was about the only bush I had not taken cuttings from before I move. Went to get some and like the case of the missing French Horn, (Flanders and Swann if anyone else remembers), "there it was, gone". Not a trace of it. My son has some so may e-mail him to see if he has some to bring me tomorrow. This was a bought plant which never did well.

I have a few different types of brunfelsias. One of my dwarf ones has been in for about two years and never flowered.
The other two I transplanted and I think overfertilised when I went through my overfertilising phase. They have quite a lot of yellowing and lower leaf drop.
In general brunfelsias are not at their best at this time of the year.
I am interested to know what others feed them. I've sprinked around a bit of azalea fertiliser or osmocote, but that's about all.

I'm always interested in how other people deal with their plant deficiencies. The brunsfielda here (Mackay) had been looking poorly (yellow leaves with prominent veins) regardless of the season but are showing good leaf colour now and starting to flower after a moderate prune about 2 months ago. Memory and record keeping are equally bad; they certainly got some sulphate of potash for the non-flowering and probably a bucket of epsom salts soln. Even a cutting grown one in a pot which gets slow release product has the yellowing. As does one at my mother's; on her good soil. Annoyingly, it's common to see ignored specimens up here, covered in flowers and with healthy leaves.

Same here Rose - those growing in neglected yards blasted by western sun surrounded by metre high grass are covered with flowers - my little coddled ones barely squeeze out a flower.

Eagerly I opened this as I have been deperately breathing life into two of these for some time. I thought if anyone knew the answer it would be some Queenslanders. Looks like we are all in the same boat. I thought it was the cold SE of SA or the wrong soil or.................
In desperation I have dumped heaps of old cow manure around mine, kill or cure :o) I did a search and came up with this bit of info from a site.

The shrub is small at about 4-6 feet. It tends to get leggy and should be pruned back heavily twice a year to maximize tips and hence quantity of blooms.

Make your first pruning in spring after blooms are spent and your second pruning about September. Properly pruned, this shrub is a real show stopper. If left to ramble, it is nice but not great. It likes fertilizer.

Cheers Mrs B

What a relief. I thought my midget Brunfelsias were just paying out on me because I had the audacity to expect them to actually do something in Victoria.
MPPI

One of mine produced a couple of flowers this year. Pretty pathetic ....

Yippee! One of my three Brunfelsia is flowering. Much water and 'Thrive'. Can't believe it. Now what about the Luculia?
MPPI

My knowledge of brunfelsias is limited to knowing that there is one variety that has perfume and one that hasn't - and I only found this out when trying to work out why mine didn't. Bought the wrong one, didn't I.

Living in an area of heavy frosts, my five year old plant lives in a large pot situated against a north facing wall. It is potted in home made compost (and not made very scientifically). I'm not the most efficient in the field of fertilising - you have to remember to actually do it and memory is not my strong point.

But it flowers beautifully every year - it is currently covered with buds and the first few flowers have started to open. It looks magnificent in full bloom. Pity it doesn't have any perfume.

Perhaps brunfelsia is one of those plants which do better if not "loved" too much. It could be that the fertiliser promotes growth at the expense of flowers. I wonder if it would make a difference if the fertisiler was applied annually just after flowering time. This might promote growth that would have plenty of time to settle down before the production of buds.

My plant doesn't have a problem with yellow leaves but they do go an unhealthy looking purplish colour in winter.