One day it was there, the next day it looked like this. Did I completely miss seeing the flowers while I was a way?? Or was it something else?

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Might something have eaten the buds??

Yes, it looks like a bloom thief to me. Something snapped it off, they don't look like that after the bloom fades.

Did you have a old snap while you were away which may have caused the bud blast?

I am inclined toagree with Jonna looks like the blooms were snapped off the inflo.

sniff. I guess if you call a drop from 90 to 80 a cold snap, we had one. But we did have some fierce winds while I was away. Maybe a broken limb hit it? had a lot of limbs down in the yard. I lost the top off my dracena maginata from a tree limb/sword.

Damn squirrels! Again?! This time 2-20" branches snapped off, the rest bent over badly. These squirrels need to leave me alone!! Grrr! I have removed the lower 12" of leaves off the broken pieces. I will let them harden off and then plant them again. Sound like a plan? I am trying to be happy about that but I am not. It was NOT the time to prune back my pudica!

Cheryl, are they eating the plants, or just knocking them over? I've heard a trial of freshly ground black pepper in the pots may deter them. I have chipmunks that like to dig in th pots here, but thankfully they don't knock the plants over.

The bushes sit up against the fence where they will get the most sun all day. I think the squirrels are jumping from the fence rail on to the bush, thinking it is a tree or something? It's only a guess. But there were no storms or anything on the day it happened. I might try the pepper on the fence rail but our favorite neighborhood cat likes to sit up there, too.

Could it be the cat jumping onto the plants?