Except for my oldest, a frosty pink, all have died back but returned, except for one (a dbl peach but I don't remember the name). But this year I will protect them all except FP. Frosty Pink only loses leaves in our mild winters.
I have a friend that had her noid brug in a 25 gal pot. She kept it potted for years and unbeknownst to her, the brug tore thru the pot and took roots in the ground beneath the pot. By the time she discovered what had happened, she couldn't move it, so she now has a huge tree, with a 6" dia. trunk that is not going anywhere! When she told me the story, I could still see some of the black plastic from the pot which by now had sort of grown into the trunk. She removed as much as she could, but it is weird how you can see pieces of black plastic at the base of the tree. I should have thought of taking a pic of that.
How To Get A Brug To Grow Like This...
Their roots are incredibly aggressive. My huge Arborea is like that Nery. It is in a huge pot that is now cracked but its roots also go down into the ground so I could not move it if I wanted to. And that tree is taller than my house. It gets little die back in winter because of its type.
Also I have had brugs in my courtyard which are among many other potted plants which actually send out a netting of roots into the dirt that has landed on the cement and these fine feeder roots will go out for many feet. They even will go into a neighboring pot entering into the base holes.
I have some crinium lilies that did that. Roots coming out of bottom of pots and attached to the ground in a week time. Everytime husband mowed the lawn, he has to rip out the pots. I went ahead and put them in the ground. Hope they will survive the winter. no bloom yet....
I can't leave brugs in the ground here.. they freeze.. and yes they do stall.. if not in the ground, big enough pot, or fed and watered.. Mine are proof of that... the ones I overwintered from cuttings, some are in small hanging pts, to move around, the others like Chrissy, dola and peach versi and maya are in large pots , and they are very big.. I have 6 seedlings in the ground, I will have to dig them up..
I wish I lived in california.... or.. had a green house. *sigh*