No flowers on my Mum's Garrya elliptica (male) :(

I am puzzled, Eiko. How old is it and how long has she had it? Has it ever had tassles? My RHS book does not help on this one.

More to the point, has it been cut back at any point? As it flowers on last year's new growth, if it received an autumn 'tidy', you've just cut off all the growth that would have flowered

It had tassles last year when I bought it for her! I don't think it was cut back, but I will check on the possability of a "tidy-up". Thank you

Does it matter whether these plants are male or female, for tassels?

also what about it being in a pot? they do get quite big, maybe it needs to go into the ground - have you checked if it is pot bound?

I have one of these that took a couple of years to really get going. I would say that it is too big a plant to keep in a pot, mine puts on 6feet of growth each year, but I prune back as soon as the flowers fade and leave any unflowered shoots as they will flower next year.Put it on a north facing wall of the house, its also good for cutting to put in Xmas displays but watch out for pollen dropping. more people should grow this shrub as modern houses have a lot of shady places to plant up.

North wall is OK as long as it is sheltered

RHS book says both male and female plants grow tassles. Females also have berries, though! - I looked it up especially for you, David! :-)

Manny thanx, Spritz. It was too late last night for me to begin looking at anything. Berries, too? Sounds even more valuable.

But you'd still need a male to pollinate the female. And the male has longer tassles

Thought as much, and I don't have space for the two. Thanx, Andrew!

How tall do Garrya grow? Iv a large garden but dont want 2 shade the neighbours gardens?

You only need male and female for pollination, with berries as the result.One on its own, either male or female should still produce tassles.

A garrya will grow to 12 feet tall and the same across. But if you have a sheltered wall or fence in shade, you could train it against that but I'd still allow at least 8 feet in height