Don't you think that gardeners in ANY climate, not just the north, are at the mercy of their weather? We can water if too little, we can amend soil, we can spray, but Mother Nature controls the majority of conditions. Bud count and branching certainly may be improved with good genetics, but even great genetics may perform poorly if challenged by late freezes, extreme drought, extreme heat, etc. What I note here is that plants need consistent and abundant water when forming scapes and buds. If given supplemental water when natural water is lacking, performance improves exponentially. If adequate water is not given during this crucial formative period, no matter how great the plant is, how well it performed last year, or how remarkable the genetics are, the plant will likely have sub standard performance.
