No I have not tried leaving a Brug in ground. It just all shriveled up in the pot in the basement. I trusted the beast to have some energy left o=in the roots and it did.
END OF SEASON FLOWERS!!!! SEPTEMBER 2014
Gita and everyone else: How much do you fertilize your brugmansias? Mine tend to look underfed, but might be because they don't have the cool roots Gita recommends.
Happy, I have some slow relase fertilizer in the pots and also give them Micracle Gro each time I water them when I am home on weekends. They are probably overfed. The moster in my photo grew from cutting (taken last October) to this size in one season.
I tend to really underfeed my plants (I use Plant Tone every few years). The container plants don't like that abuse much. Sometimes I'm good about using liquid fertilizer on the containers, but often I'm not. I hate to use non-organic fertilizers, but maybe the slow release ones can be forgiven.
G. your big angel wing begonia is beautiful!! Mine got big but no blooms. I think I didn't give it enough sun. How much sun does yours get?
Brugs are heavy feeders because they grow so much in one season. I understand that you want to go all organic, Happy. Probably you can add a lot of compost manure in the potting soil.
Here is mine yesterday evening. I probably will miss the peak while I am away this week.
I'm not averse to using Osmocote in containers -- since it is slow-release, I think it wouldn't harm the Chesapeake. If I am wrong, please let me know. I'm too erratic using the liquid fertilizers.
WHOA!!! donner!! Your dr. is a beauty!
Is it really from a cutting you took just last year? That would be October, 2013? Or 2012?
It would seem you took the cutting in fall od 2012--it grew during the winter
and next spring--2013--you potted it up. I just cannot believe you took
the original cutting just last October.Then you potted it and it rooted and grew to a
healthy plant. and now it is so huge!!!! All in the same year???? is that true?
I cannot believe that this Dr. S. grew this big in it's 1st year from a cutting!!!!!
Happy--I seldom feed my plants too. BUT--I do root prune them in the spring
when it is time to put them out. To root-prune--pull it out of the old pot,
get a sharp butcher knife and cut away all the outside of the root ball.
Then--cut off about 2" from the bottom as well.
Prepare the pot--the one with the holes cut out in the sides (if you do that)--
mix up some fresh soil with some compost and Osmacote time release fertilizer in it
and pot your brug in that. Then--sink this pot in the bigger pot (IF you do that-why not?)
water it in well and put it in a semi-shady spot for it to recover a bit.
They are tough! But if they have been in a dark basement all winter--you should not
just plop them in a sunny spot.
Once in a blue moon I may feed it with 10-10-10 or such. They also like some
Epsom Salts a couple times a year. And--water...water...water...they sop up a gallon of
water in one day--no sweat. When dry--their leaves will droop. Water well--and they
will pop back up in 5 minutes.
I think a brug needs something better than Plant Tone. Something for blooming plants maybe.
Liquid fertilizers don't last long. it is like a shot in the arm--and then--Pfft!
Now--do you plant yours in the bed? Or in the Pot-in-Pot method? I recommend it!
If you do--then digging it up is hard, as the roots travel widely.
Happy--as many plants as you always have and ask for--you really need to buckle
down and take better care of them. Walk your garden every day--water what is dry--
deadhead flowers for a cleaner look--cut back dead stalks, etc....
Besides--you get to keep track of how everything is doing...
That is a pleasant pastime...don't you think? I do it every day...
Gita
This message was edited Sep 8, 2014 7:46 PM
Duanna---
My AW Begonia has lived here, year after year, for probably 25-30 years.
Every spring--as I am about to put it outside--I cut off all the long canes
pretty far down. Every 2 or 3 years--I take it out of its pot (at this time)
and get rid of the older, weathered roots and pot back the healthy ones in fresh soil.
Itr always sits in the same spot by my front door. It never gets any sun--but it
is very bright shade. My house faces NNE. I keep it next to the bug Hemlock which
blocks any AM sun it would get.
In the winter--it comes into my spare BR and gets so-so sunlight. The lower leaves
drop and the long canes thrive with leaves on top.
Usually, I do not cut these canes down until I take it outside--but this past winter--
maybe around February--I cut them all back as there were other plants that needed light.
It immediately started re-growing new leaves. I did not like that--but I had to allow it.
The new leaves had grown quite tall already by the time I put it outside.
I believe this is why it is blooming this year. Usually--it never blooms--as all the tops
of the stems have been cut back. Having the leaves re-growing inside must have
been the trick to it blooming so beautifully this summer. Believe me--it is a treat!!!
That's it! No other magic. I also never fertilize it...I think next year will be a more serious
re-potting. New, bigger pot--root-pruning--Osmacote in the soil, etc...
It still grows in the same dilapidated green pot it has been in forever.
Some people allow the long canes to stay on the plant all through the year--I never do.
I think they are ugly! Perhaps those people are afraid to cut them back to nubs.
No other magic----I have told you the whole story.
Tell me what you do with your AW begonia season to season? Lets compare notes.
Gita
I do have some blooms to show you....
1--A Cleome bloom in my kitchen side bed. There are more--
2--My Hibiscus id still plugging away...SO pretty!
3--Picotee Morning Glory--Nils type. Usually I have more blues--
I guess these seeds were the pink ones...I like the blue ones better.
4--A late-blooming Glad grew through the crack in the raised bed fence.
This is looking from the back side of it--my neighbor's side.
5--I also planted cardinal climber on my side--and that--as well as a MG
are hanging over the fence and blooming away on the other side. That has more sun..
OK! Bedtime. Up at 5:30AM tomorrow to water..water..water....at the HD.
Gita
I love that cardinal climber G, is that an annual?
Yes--it is an annual--but self seeds like crazy. it is just like Morning glory.
It will climb and twine all over anything nearby.
I have oodles of seeds...You want some?
Gita
This one is on my kitchen side porch railing.
Gita, yes, all the brugs I have this year are from cuttings taken in 2013. The brugs in my photos are indeed all one season old.
Because brugs are so easy to root, I got bold last year and decided not to keep any mother plants over winter. I rooted cuttings, gave them good light, and moved them twice to bigger and bigger pots over the winter. The last pots they were in before being moved outside were 8". They didn't need a 'wake up' period in the spring. That's why the first blooms they produced were around late May or early June.
Your cardinal climber is very pretty. I had a moon vine this year. It was huge and made the clematis disappear. I had to get ride of it. Maybe I will try the cardinal climber next year.
donner that was really bold, but worked so well!
I have a bunch of Bidens c... (EDIT IT IS species polylepis) blooming right now. It is a bright yellow native annual flower, tall with ferny foliage, (I thought all spring it was red Coreopsis). Probably a thug, ....shall I collect seeds for anyone, for throwing in a natural area? They won't be ready by Swap.
See post below for link
This message was edited Sep 9, 2014 8:26 AM
I'll pass on the cardinal climber seeds G. It's very pretty but I'm not a vine kind of guy.
Sally, are you sure you have Bidens coronata? In our area we have extensive fields of Bidens polylepis currently in bloom, distinguished by its long bracts. (See photo below) Covers entire fields this time of year.
Does anyone have a hardy geranium that's blooming right now?
The geraniums in my garden seem to have very short bloom periods, but I hear Rozanne is particularly long-blooming.
David, I am not sure. Thanks for helping. I'll check. coronata was the best match of the few in the book I used. (Yeah, lame!)
EDIT David, I think you nailed it. Everything matches this
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/ts_sunflower.htm
This message was edited Sep 9, 2014 8:19 AM
ssg: This wasn't a great geranium year for me -- usually they do really well.
SSG, my two rozannes are still blooming strong. All my others are not blooming although I still have a Dilys hanging on to some blooms.
I think the problem with mine is just that I pushed the shady envelope a tad too hard.
Yeah that might be the case. I've been pushing it this year too. I didn't think my Dily's was going to bloom this year because of all the shade but it started blooming a couple weeks ago. I'm undecided whether I should move it to another location with more sun. I also have a Johnson's Blue in full shade and that bloomed decent but finished a couple months ago.
I also have a so-so mystery.....
Remember all the Prince Yaku Rhodos I got at HD?
Mine is full of bloom buds!!! This time of year???? Kind of odd....
Mine is still potted in a 2gal pot sitting in part sun.
How about YOU--David and Paul? What is yours doing at this time?
Will have a pic tomorrow--it is dark outside now... Gita
Is it actually blooming?
No--it is not--but every stem has a tight bud on it. I know they are flower buds....
Look! Just took these... G.
Some late pretties...
1--Blue Picotee MG. Glad to see a blue one after all. My seeds contain a mix of.
2--Dr. Seuss brug blooms turning deep yellow. They do this before they all fade.
3--Maya brug blooms turning pale peach as they fade
4--Cleomi plant--earning its name as "spider Plant". look at those 'arms"!
5--This is one of the Begonias in my HB by my front door. I love this more
compact version of the Dragon Wing B. Need to ask "Bell" what they are...
We had them in a lot of mixed HB's. None were sold individually.
I think I will take some cuttings and grow them indoors as a House plant for next year.
G.
Rhodies tend to have a heavy bloom year every other season. It looks like yours will be very floriferous next spring.
You mean these buds will winter over??? Hard to believe...
Very pretty brugs Gita. I love that 'Maya'.
Rododendrons buds develop over the summer and stay over the winter to bloom the following year.
Yeah G. Unless it's a brutal cold winter like last winter, then some or all of them will burn out.
Our three Prince Yaku Rhodos have next spring's buds on them too. So does our huge rhodo.
'Rozanne' geranium still going strong here, too. I got back yesterday afternoon, and last night was submission time for the Great Frederick Fair... I went out to the garden to see what was there, since I wasn't going to try baking anything at the last minute. I took a vase of Sedum 'Neon' to enter under "cut flowers," and under "fresh herbs" I entered sprigs of spearmint, and some garlic chives. It's fun to submit something, and I also love that my $10 entry fee (for 3 items) gives me an entrance ticket for each day of the fair. Joyanna is still free, although parking is $5. Hopefully we'll go several times next week. :-)
sounds fun critter! good luck with your submissions. I won a bunch of awards here on DG recently!! 2 first places at the DG County Fair this year, which is a first for me - I've never won w/my photo entries before. Got a first for "Domesticated Pet" http://davesgarden.com/contest/dg-county-fair-2014/winners.php?catid=494 and first for favorite "Arts and Crafts" for my Mosaic Watering Can http://davesgarden.com/contest/dg-county-fair-2014/winners.php?catid=499 that is still in the works.
Got a second place for favorite "Homemade Sweet Treats" for Harry's Birthday Cherry Pie http://davesgarden.com/contest/dg-county-fair-2014/winners.php?catid=498
Also got second and third place for "Favorite Fresh Fruit" with photos of our grapes http://davesgarden.com/contest/dg-county-fair-2014/winners.php?catid=496 and some runners up mentions in favorite "Fresh Vegetables" for some heirloom tomato shots http://davesgarden.com/contest/dg-county-fair-2014/winners.php?catid=495 ^_^
Always fun to enter contests
and Have fun at the swap today! wish we were going
This message was edited Sep 13, 2014 6:58 AM
all beautiful pictures, diana!
thanks Sally!
here are a few pics I took this morning
late blooming Salvia uliginosa - bog sage
goldenrod looking lovely with the red cannas
probably should have cut the tops of the sorghum by now to collect the seeds- will tomorrow
garlic chives still blooming
finally our first dinner plate dahlia "show n tell"
Great photos, Wind! Thank you for sharing.
N I c e pics! wind!!! Missed you at the swap.
That dahlia is gorgeous and I really like the goldenrod/canna combo; it looks really nice!! I'm definitely becoming a fan of goldenrod this season.
Wild goldenrod will spread. But it is a pollinator heaven. Goldenrod beetles are really neat.
Pink Chelone is blooming for me, I think it is from gardadore. What a pretty shade of purpleish pink, and cool flower!