Butterfly in finally in Flush!!

Again, this is one of my favorite warm weather loving single pinks. Besides being a large flower, the waxy corolla can hold up well in bad weather. She is also one of the most fragrant brugs around. A pod sister to Rosalie, both of these brugs are well suited for the hot humid southern climates. The cross on this one is Rothkirch x Ocre by hybridizer Herta Blin
This is one of the oldie but goodies. People are so hell bent on getting all the "new" stuff that we forget about those that have been around for years and can out perform those news guys hands down! And they have proven themselves to be hardy......:}

This message was edited Apr 4, 2011 7:53 AM

another pic

one more

I have found that the singles are much better for me. I have a couple of pretty pricey doubles that either don't bloom or the blooms turn into a sodden mess and fall off the plant without opening.

I refuse to allow myself to be seduced by any more beautiful pictures.

'Butterfly' is EVER a favourite here. She is excellent both ways for hybridizing, also.
All of us here look forward to 'Butterfly' in flush, which she does often, too :).
In the months of fluctuation temps, she will get dark pink, too .. which is another very nice.

peony1066, your doubles should do better to open for you in the cooler months.
The high humidity turns them soggy.

One thing often overlooked is that brugmansias are subtropicals .. not tropicals.
They like the drops to coolness like their natural habitat.

Collecting as much pollen as possible for the fall/winter pollinating season here. She should make a great companion to cross to things like Sommerzauber, Herbsztaber, Samba Dancer and even Sweet Love...it's all about bringing the genes of heat tolerating brugs together to make some stronger warm climate brugs.

Way to go Gary, she is just beautiful i am looking forward to you making great crosses

Gary, It's beautiful!!!

Two days later the blooms have darkened up even more. I am taking these photos as our temps are 90F degrees to show people what a good warm weather brug can do even when conditions are most disagreeable.....You can be sure that i will be collecting as much pollen from this baby as possibe because she will be an invaluable asset in my breeding program where my ultimate goal is to get us southerners some brugs that can take what mother nature throws at us....as an added bonus...for whatever reason Butterfly has a tendency to throw Yellow/Orange babies into it's offspring.....Let's hope for a good fall/winter hybridizing season

Edit.....the reason for the propensity to throw yellow/orange in it's offspring is the Ocre in its background

This message was edited Apr 5, 2011 4:31 PM

Oh what a treasure! Well done, Gary.

That is a darker hue than I've seen on Butterfly before. I'd like to see what her Ocre background does to her offspring. Have you used Butteryfly in earlier crosses?

Ocre factors in very heavily when using Butterfly as a parent in crosses. If you scan the cultivar listing in Ibrugs for Butterfly, you will see that many of the offspring are Yellow/Orange....That would be the Ocre genes rearing it's pretty little head :}

Since i am having difficulty getting seed pods to stay on because of the heat I'm not doing any crosses until the fall. I would rather save, than waste good pollen. One cross that I am anxious to try is Sommerzauber x Butterfly.....currently there is a small pod on Sommerzauber with this cross but since no other pods on any of my other plants have stayed on longer than a few weeks i expect this one will go soon as well.....but i will be back with that paintbrush and that tube of pollen come october and I'm sure i will get one at that time.



This message was edited Apr 6, 2011 6:04 AM

Butterfly still has a few blooms coming in on it. When i when to check them out I realized that she had two six pointed blooms on her...now it has me curious and i wonder just how many six pointers were in that flush she had....I am curious to find out the percentage of 6 pointed blooms to 5 pointers

Here is one of the six pointers i found on Butterfly today

She looks absolutely fantastic Gary!!!!

Her is one of 'Butterfly' showing a little orange.

The orange again is the the ocre influence in her....

I checked her again this morning and yet another 6 pointer has just begun to emerge from it's calyx.....there has to be something to this. I'm sure genes are playing a role but i am wondering if environmental factors have any influence as to whether she will produce more or fewer 6 pointers. I will have to wait until sept when i return to start monitoring her