Introducing "Lizzy"

I have been fortunate to grow out a bunch of Liz's crosses involving The Chief. Of all the ones that have bloomed so far, this seedling from a cross between brugmansia Rubirosa x The Chief has been my favorite. This seedling has been a vigorous grower and has remained relatively pest free from day one. My main stock plant is about 7-8 feet tall and has been blooming non-stop all summer, even when the temps were in the upper 90's with humidity to match. I have my plants growing in full sun too.

I am honored to be able to name this plant after the hybridizer, Liz Fichtl.

Introducing the newly registered "Lizzy"!

Another view

Close up

View of plant

That close-up is gorgeous!!! Does she have a fragrance to go with those skirts? Do you have plans to cross her back to one or both of her parents?

It has a nice fragrance. I'm not good with smells so I can't tell you what it smells like.

It has been so hot down here that pollen has been scarce and the temps to high to make crosses. The temps finally dropped this week and I was able to find some pollen tonight. I quickly used it on a half dozen cultivars. I have lots of crosses planned for Lizzy during the next few weeks.

I believe The Chief no longer exists but I have plenty of others to use.

Fred

Fred this one is absolutely beautiful!

But I have one question. Do you cut of leaves or has it so less leaves because of your climate. My brugs do have so much leaves and luckily also flowers. The leaves of mine fall off now because that it is autumn here.

Wonderful Fred, you have done a fantastic job with her, Kudos to you!

Wow what a wonderful brug congrats!!!!

Very nice Fred.

Chocolate Brug

Beautiful blossom and one that can take the heat. I love it!

Why does the Chief no longer exist?

Fred
Congrulations on such a Georgeous Bloom, great job you have done with it, I love the name, as well as the color

Elizabeth

Very nice Fred !

Thanks everyone. The reason why many of the lower larger leaves are missing is because I spray all my plants monthly with Organicide. Because it is an oil based spray and the temps are in the 90's it often causes the oldest leaves to yellow and drop.

I also strip many of the large lower leaves off on my seedlings to get better ventilation and more sunlight down to the bottom. This helps control diseases. I space my 1 & 3 gallon seedlings pot to pot, while my 7 gallon stock plants are spaced about a foot apart.

Fred

Thank you for your answer Fred. I was just wondering.

this is beautiful Fred..

She is Gorgeous Fred!

Karen

ALovely flower there Fred...great you were able to imortalize Lizzy with it.. ..
your seeds from yourAxelRose crosses did well..Winning the best grower of the year award here this year..... it's the one that grew to a 12' tree from seed having been planted in the spring... although it never bloomed yet... I did get the top 3' cut off... and moved the remaining 9' and built my cool room around it... still hoping for the first forming buds to develop and open inside there.. before giving way to dormantcy.. just to see it's flower style..

Thanks Gordon. Glad to hear your Axel Rose seedling is doing so well. I have had some real nice blooms from Axel Rose seedlings this summer. It tends to produce lots of yellows and oranges. I just posted pictures of a Mountain Treasure x Axel Rose seedling on my blog. It has large, cantaloupe orange colored blooms. I think it is going to be a keeper for sure. You can check the pics out here - http://blog.fredsommer.com/SommerGardens/

I'm hoping at least a few of the Axel Rose seedlings will throw a variegated sport out.

Fred's patronage and moral support have gone a long way to keeping my hybridizing program and seed cross production at full throttle. Without his help there would have been less seed available to all and fewer chickens on my dinner table.

He once sent me cuttings with little bags of Doritos used for packing. Obviously, the man's a genius when it comes to sending packages to fat ladies.

He threw himself headlong into brugmansia production, suffered major environmental setbacks, and has emerged with one of the best brug collections around. He's going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. His acreage contains an enviable brugmansia gene pool, and he puts it to work with lots of energy and enthusiasm. Fred is also generous...a rare and venerable quality. He reports on his garden's insects with as much appreciation as he does it's blooms. He is as likely to post a disgusting bug, as he is to upload the image of a dazzling and unexpectedly lovely outcome from an anticipated bud. If his plants exhibit disease, he admits it and isn't intimidated by the possibility of being accused of plague. He tackles the problem soberly, gets past it and reports. We all learn something from that kind of honesty.

I would rather have my name assigned to one of Fred's blooms, than have my mug on the cover of The National Geographic. Really.
It's nice to be rewarded for publicly recommending fat ladies to a fellow pollen jockey. ;-)

well...Fred.. Great... here's hoping... I can always use a new orange/yellow... are the Axle Rose crossed you've grown out.. gigantic trees..also...I can only imagine them the second year..
we're always hoping for that sporty shoot also.. with that blue flower... we'll keep you in the loop for that one ..

Fred

Wow Liz, Thanks! You make it sound like I'm a saint or something. :) I'm just an over-enthused hobbyist without a life and family to distract me. :) And I would like to thank you for being such a great enabler!

I'm honored to be able to expand upon the great work done by the European breeders Like Monika, Anne, and others, along with the early US pioneers like JT, Brenda, Delisa, Alice and Liz. When I first started playing around with hybridizing I was impressed with the generosity of both plants and knowledge by my neighbor to the north, Delisa, and by that of Brenda Delph when I visited her nursery the following year.

I have an ambitious breeding program in place and I hope the outcome will have a positive impact for brug enthusiasts everywhere. When I find myself surrounded with a large assortment of blooms, it is easy to get distracted from my established breeding goals. That can be both a good an bad thing when curiosity and experimentation sometimes take precedent. I always manage to eventually get back on track with my original hybridizing goals.

I plan to have a bunch more exciting new releases to announce as we head into winter. Stay tuned!

:)

Don't be so modest. I know what I'm talking about.
Its good to know a new generation of brugmansia enthusiasts are building on the foundation of all who have come before. It is hard work. Every seed produced is a labor of love and comes with some sacrifice.
When old duffers like me are dust and off sailing the cosmic sea, we'll have the pleasure of knowing some poor soul is still battling mosquitoes, snails, fungus and gnats for the purpose of creating the elusive blue bruggie. LOL!!!!

Oh my, I am in love. New to brugs and new to DG. I've been a grower/breeder/enthusiast of fuchsias and clematis for a decade. I am Fascinated with brugs. I admit having very little resistance to tropical’s, I just have one question….Is there a 12 step program for this?

This is my first brug and its first blooms.

This message was edited Nov 10, 2009 6:19 PM

Fred, we will have to put this one on my list of wants. It certainly is different.

Well done! Lizzy is a beauty.
Janice

I got to thinking about this and realized that the genes for this one have passed through many hands: Ann Kirchner-Abel, Volker Sanders, Monika, Me, and now Fred.
That's a group effort. It proves that teamwork in the brugmansia community produces lovely outcomes, sharing get the work done faster and buying keeps the soil and fertilizer coming.

When you look into the face of a flower like this, you're seeing your own and everyone else's.