This is the first winter where I have a Brug planted in the ground. How do you handle it? Cut back AFTER frost? Or cut back BEFORE frost? Let freeze to ground and mulch?
I have heard you can wrap the trunk in bubble wrap and preserve it if it doesn't get too cold.
What do all you folks in mild winter areas do??
Thanks.
Morganc,
I also live in 8b, bottom of GA, I have several planted in the ground. I don;t do anything in particular. Last year I did not even cut mine back until the frost got them. We even had a very cold unusual winter, down to 18 a couple of nights. They came back with a vengence, at this moment about 10 ft tall and blooming like crazy!
If I were you, I would not cut them back, because they will put out new growth and if you do get a freeze it will do more damage with the tender growth on it than if you leave it be for now. I would take a few cuttings and keep them inside just in case it does not make it.
Anyway, those are my thoughts, I may be wrong. Good luck with it!
If they can take temps in the teens....what is with wrapping them in bubble wrap? Or are your's sheltered?
This might help:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/956706/
I'm no expert, but it worked for me.
Very, very cool!!!
I think I shall try that.
Thank you so much!
morganc, As I read your post, I was going to refer you to bigbubbles' thread , but she beat me to it. If you'll re-read GAgirls post she said "I did not even cut mine back until the frost got them". Temperatures under 32ºF will damage Brugs, but how much depends on the duration of the freezing temperature, how low the temperatures go, the age and size of the Brug as well as the variety of Brug as some are more cold sensative than others. In zone 8, Brugs will die all the way down to the ground unless they are given some sort of protection. Even then, it is not a guarantee that they will return next spring. If the freezing temperatures linger around long enough to freeze the ground, the roots will freeze and will not return. Do take a couple of back-up cuttings indoors as a safety precaution against losing the plant completely. When you overwinter a Brug keeping the "Y" alive, the plant will rebound back and bloom so much faster the following year. If the Brug has to re-grow from the underground trunk, the Brug will have to go through the entire vegetative growth cycle before it "Y"s and produces blooms. Than translates into not getting blooms until late summer or early fall. If you are lucky, you will then see one or two flushes as opposed to more and earlier flushes if you protected the original "Y". That's why the extra effort to keep the tops alive.
Thank you all so much.
Last year I had grown some Brug cuttings that I got from a DGer all in pots. When winter came, in to the greenhouse they went. But this year we planted one in the ground because it took up so much space in the greenhouse. It has bloomed a lot and we really like it.....thus my quest to keep it alive. If it survives I will plant another one in ground.
But I will keep some cuttings. Can the cuttings just be plunked into some moist soil? Or in water first until roots appear?
Either way will work or you can place in water until the cuttings have the white nubs. Then Plant them in slightly moist soil. Not too wet or, in the cooler weather, they may rot. If you are worried about space, you could also leave the cuttings in water for the winter. What ever you are most comfortable with. I think I would plant in potting soil or mix after they have nubs. That's what feels more comfortable to me.
I have a feeling I will have more Brugs than I need come spring.....whoo-hoo!
Happy Gardening to all!
I'm in zone 7b. Do you think the bubble wrap would work for me. I have a couple of brugs in the ground and they have been dying back to the ground during cold weather. They come back but it takes so long for them grow back that they have not fully bloomed before we get frost again. I have some others in pots that go in. But these have been in the ground so long the roots would be difficult to dig up.
Try it! What have you got to lose by trying the bubble wrap. You might want to try several layers. You could also do what some gardeners do and that is take large cuttings that include 2 or 3 layers of "Y" and root them over winter. By next spring they should be ready to go into the ground and take off giving you more flushes than those left in the ground. That way you don't have to worry about covering Brugs or digging them up.
Wonder what would happen if I took a large cutting off the top and then wrapped the remainder in bubble wrap?
If you do, be sure you also put down a heavy layer of mulch around the base.
