QUESTION: Some time ago, a friend gave me a "pregnant plant." It has slender stems and serrated leaves with little clones on the points. Although it is now almost 3 feet tall, it has never produced the pink-to-orange flowers she said it would bear. Can you tell me what it is and how to make it bloom?

ANSWER: Your plant is probably that old favorite, Kalanchoe daigremontiana. Each clone starts making its own babies shortly after falling, so the pregnant plant is also known as a maternity plant, mother of millions, and devil's backbone.

Whatever you call it, this prolific succulent from Madagascar feels no pressure to make seeds and often takes several years to flower. Yours may simply be too young.

Or it may need more sun. Though pregnant plants will grow and multiply in partial shade, they will not bloom unless they have plenty of bright yet not scorching light.

It is best to be stingy with everything else. Allow the top inch of soil to dry between watering and fertilize only in summer.

QUESTION: I'm tired of bringing in my rosemary plants each fall and replanting them in spring, but I have one I am very fond of. Would mulch protect it through winter?ANSWER: A thick layer of mulch can sometimes prevent the freezing of the ground, and the plant will have a (slightly) better chance inside a loose cocoon of cozier insulation. Possibilities include bubble wrap, fiberglass or layers of burlap.The catch is that the mummy trick can only be used for six weeks or less. Rosemary is an evergreen; it would be smothered if kept in the dark all winter. And if the weather stays cold long enough to freeze through the mulch to the roots, it's goodbye rosemary, regardless.But most rosemaries are pretty tough, able to survive air temperatures as low as 20 degrees. So if you live where it is above 20 for all but a month or so, you could try a cover-up combo. Mulch heavily now and then wrap your plant at the last minute. Unwrap it as soon as possible; and stand by to rewrap if necessary.Address questions to Garden Q&A, The New York Times, 229 W. 43rd St., New York, N.Y., 10036, or by e-mail to gardening@nytimes.com. Those of general interest will be published. Unpublished questions cannot be answered individually.By N.Y. Times Service