My Back Yard Adventures with Brugmansias 2010

Here is Isabella's Face she is so cute, you can see her grinning.

Let's talk about this one. Last year she just grew. She grew alot. She was small when I got her from Market Place, from gonetoseed. I did not know how his brugs would do, but liked her Face. Her Profile is pretty, but she seems kind of stingy with her blooms. Unlike Frosty who gave me 9 blooms, or B Suavleons white who gave me 11 blooms, she gave me two her first bloom time. The three of those were blooming all about 10 to 120 feet from each other. Frosty being clear across the Yard on the North fence.

She starts out really light, with yellow on her neck. I am not a brug expert at plant parts . Probably never will be either.
Her colour was in about an hour and a half, while Isabella took longer. Kaitlyn has colour right away.

maybe four or five blooms this time.

The re-bloom time was quick tho. Her perume is different. It smells lighter, sweeter and not spicy. I love her scent.
It makes me remember a perfume I used to wear a long time ago.
she holds herself as tho she were royalty, and I like that. All Angels seem to be proud of their wings.

Hi Debra, I'm looking at these Brugs and I really like them but have simply not a clue where to start. From what I've read they seem a little like growing tropical hibiscus of which I grow a good few. Any pointers or advice, where to start?

Jon

Her face looks down on you as tho she were expecting you to kneel, and if I can, I do. The bugs seem to like her a little more, and she also enjoys first serve and gets the richer part of the mix from the sprayer. She sits in a nursery tub, but ts is a 5 gallon. she has plants at her feet as well. Her roots are already thru the bottom and she is anchored. I have small river gravel on top of her pot soil in between the other plants keeping her bottom cool. Since she hosts other plants, she really gets a special feeding, usually with a mix of super mega b-vitamins, epsom salts, fish emulsion, and superthrive as a snack. She only gets this when I see her budding. I do this for all of them.
You can smell these two as soon as you walk out the back door. If the neighbors would ever come out of their house, they would smell it too. I am so addicted tho their looks and smell, and the textures of their leaves, and their amazing growth rate, that I stay up late just to go out and look at them every 20 minutes or so.
That being said, I see it is time to go tell them good nite.

hi Jon, are you growing from seeds or cuttings or rooted plants?
seeds need bright light. just lay them on top of the planting area and press them in, give them a spray and make sure they don't dry out too much. some People soak them and some don't. some peel them until they see the whole nut and plant is, some just peel a corner off so that a part of the nut is visible, and some just plant them. I peel a corner off, no soaking.

Cuttings are different. I have tried all kinds of ways to root cuttings. The best way for me was with seed starter mixed with spagmom moss wrung ut and the cutting down inside to almost bottom. larger cuttings ( standards) I kept in a big plastic tub with handles, a small water pump with a hose wound around the bottoms of tehm and large rocks for anchoring them. That worked best for me , but the cuttings have to be pretty long and thick. I also grew some from a couple logs. They were about two and a half to three inches thick and literally looked like a log. Those is started in the water to get little bumpy things that later turn into roots. I cheat, I use rooting hormone in the watering cans and the bubbler tub when rooting cuttings.
The brug experts can give you lots of good advice. I treat cuttings from brugs the same way I do other plants including hibiscus and ruella. I put peroxide in the water cans, the bubbler, and the moss.
Rooted plants are easy in the winter, hardly any water, but I do spray them alot .
In the spring/summer, just put a cutting or side sprout bottom side deep enough into another potted plant outside and then when there are roots I move them to their own pots.
These were very nice thick cuttings, with Y's in the shape. This particular group, were all forked cuttings, and I used some potting mix and directly planted them all the way up to their crooks.. and kept them semi moist thru the winter,
re-potted them in the spring and now they are really nice sized plants.
You will love them. If you love tropical Hibiscus like I know you do, ( thats okay because I love them too)
You will love the beautiful brugmasias.

This one spent the entire winter in its own little water bottle planter with some vermiculite, spagmom moss and seed starting medium.

here some in the tall deep plastic tub with a pond water pump. ( 10.97 at walmart)

This was two years ago in december, you can see moss in everything here.. The little whiskey barrell water tub also had rocks in it with cuttings laying under the running water.

I had some in hanging pots. One was too big for a cup. oops wrong picture.. but at least it was christmas time and I was Gardening!

This message was edited Jul 5, 2010 1:23 AM

I had my first brug seed sprout that winter. I was so happy to see that little thing.

Thanks Debra, I don't have any yet but I think I'll begin with a rooted plant. All I have to do now is find the Japanese name for them! LOL

Jon

Well got the Japanese word (chousen asagau) so I'm off to try and buy a yellow one!
Jon

I am so excited, those two brugmansias, Isabella and Kaitlyn are budding right now even tho they are still blooming.
Nice! ( first year they gave their blooms for me , two times so far,these two)
I am excited beacause Betty Marshall, cassies curls, AND Isabella out front. I am concerned about Chrissy, and feel I NEED TO CUT HER AND LET HER BOTTOM LIVE, EVEN THO i STRIPPED ITS LEAVES CUZ i THOUGHT i SAW BROADMITES. eeps, anyway, I also gave some neem oil in her bottom, and some fertizer, and pulled most of her top leaves off too. If I cut her straight , minus the curve, I would have a nice standard to turn into a tree.
I hate mites of any type, just sayin that '" I .. TOTALLY FREAK! "" when I see ANYTHING on my babies. Why my darling dearset Joe has to call me inside after ten pm cuz I am out there with my heavy duty flashlight, making all the dogs in the surrounding yards bark, and here I am picking snails, slugs beetles, and some kind of lacewing off of them. Poor Joe...

Here is Damien Yeasterday am. He is Behind the brick ledge o the dogrun fence, facing East. I had to cut back the lonicera goldflame, some raspberry wine monardas, some fassini kind of mint , pink monardas and wisteria to let him have some sunlight.

Damien is a purchase from JT ( gonetoseed) just like This Culebra is and here he is yesterday. He is on the south fence in betwee the big guys. Isn't he wicked looking? He has some good company too.

This is my old pear tree, I had it topped off three years ago and everyone told me not to do it, but it was so narrow and tall, I felt I just had to. It is loaded again this year with lots of squirrell and beagle food. Under it there, is Cherub, from X here on DG, and it was a root ball, now it has THREE plants growing up from it. I am only keeping one of them. You can barely see awhite knight ot the left there under that tree and there is a small pot with a cutting for Faye on the right side of under the tree.

Here is a row on the Patio south end. Maya ( Bonnie), PNC (JT), cherubxberkonigan,(PHICKS) Flamenco ( JT) , plus
a b.arborea ( KELL) Betty Marshall, Autumn Treasure(Faye) and Monster white ( Bonnie). This was taken between 7 and 7 thirty am, we are lookng north from here.

here is inside looking at the same area from my chair. Only I am facing West, and we can see the Vine Barrell.

Here is the far southwest corner, it is five years old now. Still a work in progress. I have been cutting the old cones and pink monardas from there, we are getting ready for the yellow cool looking rudbeckia to open ( Henry Eilers) somewhere in there , is my beautiful 5 yr old angelface trellis rose. She desn't act like an agnel, but her face is like one.

On the other fence by the lilac shrub, there is a double delight and another bi coloured rose I forgot its name. The neighbors really like them. I Never see them unless I go out the dogrun gate to the alley.We are moving them this fall to the north full sun fence. My DH and Son have their jobs cut out for them, since it is all red clay back there.

Last Year I had lions tail back in the farthest south west corner, but i don't see any this year. I have a huge clump of orchid iris ( From Granmas and Great Aunt Effie)that did not bloom back there, However , do see asters and four o clocks ,chichi, marigolds , and Gloriosa daisey "Goldilocks" coming along ready to bloom as well. Here are some more brugs, Peach Versi from Bonnie ( Far Left of Garden) Cassies Curls from Bonnie( She is Budding) and in the middle of the forward end of the corner garden, I have planted a purchased NOL from Ken and Maggie.

Betty Marshal has finally bloomed. I grew her all last year and she did nothing except grow. I overwintered her in the Basement Garden. Her first flush the blooms are small. but she holds them well. She has two branches. One is on the southside of the patio, the other half facing north on the inside of the patio. My chair is right next to her. It smells loverly. Last night I kept going outside to smell her.

Her wings folded up in prayer for the nite, and the sphinx moths flying around visiting all the blooms.
She is a nice size plant right now, fits just right where she is at.

Dola Number 2 is now blooming.. she smells nice too, but she is on the south fence. You can smell her as you go out the back door, to. She smells Spicy.

I love the way she ends up with her petals flipping backwards. She starts off with them all out, tho.

Here is a new bloom before it folds back.

Star Dancer Pod 2 bloomed for me. I have been growing her for two years from a seed I bought from violabird. I have 4 seedlings of the different pods growing. She is white. I was hoping for the cut petals, but she is fine the way she is.

She seems to like her company there.

Isabella is flushing again. One bloom is twice the size of the others.

She and the others got a visit from a pollinator last night.

Kaitlyn is growing tired of being the queen bee again. she has been in bloom again for about two weeks. There are tiny buds coming out again.. I highly reccommend this Brugmansia for non stop blooming.

Elizabeth is a dainty petite thing. She has given me blooms three times now. A pretty little white flower, smells light and sweet, and She is from JT Sessions ( gonetoseed)

I sure love my brugmansias, and can't wait to see them all this summer. Meanwhile, I have lots of things to do and look at and watch as the hot days creep by..

Debra
what a Beautiful Bloom, just Beautiful, Thank you for sharing

Elizabeth

Dola with more colour..

StarDancer Pod 2 second bloom

StarDancers Face,, a little blurry, sorry

Betty Marshall on the inside of the patio, north side of plant, next to my chair.