Is this double Brug really "Rare"?

Hello - I have been reading through the posts on this forum for the past week or so and just love all the gorgeous photos of brugs you post. I just purchased 4 Brugs on Ebay (I'm afraid I don't really have anything to trade here): Dr. Seuss, Yellow Suaveolens, White Suaveolens, and Insignis Pink. I'm planning on planting them around a covered pavilion (very rich soil) that receives dappled light. (zone 8) I have planted 1 gallon lacecap hydrangeas and was thinking of planting my brugs inbetween.

My question is about this last one. After reading your comments about the so-called "rare" brugs on Ebay, I am now wondering if it's worth the $10.90 +shipping.

I would really appreciate your thoughts on this - it really is beautiful!

One last question (if you don't mind): Do the brugs do better planted in the 5 gallon containers and lifted in and out - or will they do just as well in zone 8 planted in the ground? I don't mind putting them in and out - but want to save my back if it's not necessary.

Thank you so much for any comments or help with my questions.

In zone eight, most will come back from frost with more stalks each year. usually people take cuttings in the fall of their favorites just in case. i have 1 out of 25+ hasn't come back, 3-4 have been real slow about it. you'll have to so dome fancy work to keep a 5 gallon pot watered, before you know it the roots will take up the whole pot and you'll have to water more than once a day. a trading friend of mine locally used frost paper she bought in a garden center last winter with great success, i plan on using that on some next winter and leave in the ground.
i have no clue which brug you have, sorry. also, lots of people will trade brugs/cuttings for plants that aren't brugs, in case you decide on more.

Your Brugmansia is a flore plena, which means double. The leaf is not good to see but it seems to be x candida leaf. So what you have is probably a B. x candida flore plena. Could you post a picture of the whole plant, showing, if the flower is pending etc.

If the plant is healthy, grows and flowers good, its a good buy.
Before potting into a larger pot, look at the roots first. Healthy roots are white, dead roots are brown and can be peeled like a boiled potato. They should be removed before potting.

Moogie - I bet you bought from Rapture - at valleygrow? That looks like one of his pictures. I think it is cheaper if you go to his website and oder from there. www.valleygrow.com

I don't think the doubles he has are actually rare - that's just ebay fanfare. He has a better selection on his web page too. He's a very nice guy.

moogie.... I have found that even if you don't have a trade a lot of us will send cuttings for poastage. Check out the trade list on people here esp in the fall when most are cutting back it could save you $$$ and help us get good homes for our cuttings. You have a good start now those are all nice brugs
Pete

Thank you so much for all your help! I decided to stay with my four and see how they all do this summer in the Dallas heat.

If they freeze back to the ground in zone 8 and resprout every year, what is the highest shrub/tree that I can expect? Do they really come back taller and bigger?

Also, with our intense heat here (occasionally up to 115+ for 1 to 3 weeks!), would it be best to plant them in morning sun/afternoon dappled light (by very tall trees)? I know they're tropicals - but our heat is not tropical...it's more like a blast furnace from August to mid-September.

Pete- I'm taking your advice; hopefully by this fall I'll have some things to trade, too!

Thank you again!

Moogie,
My BIL and SIL live in Rockdale, TX and they grew a brug on the east side of the house and it did okay, except it grew so well, it went up to the eves and then bent and came out and up to go above the house. It was just in a pot. I guess I'm saying that I'd give it a bit of morning sun and then dappled shade if that is possible. Might take more watering than we like to do, but they are worth it.

Brugie- That's what I needed to hear. I have been going through all the postings in this forum for the past couple of hours, trying to find Texans who are growing brugs. (Only found a couple!) Most of you seem to be in California, Florida, Iowa, Germany or British Columbia.

If there are any prairie dwellers who grow brugs, I would really appreciate hearing whether you leave them in the ground or pot them (like your BIL and SIL).

I would love to have the tree-form brugs, but it sounds as if - when left in the ground - that they'll never be able to develop any height - or "Y". Is this right?

Many thanks!

I think if you want them to be tree form, you will have to find a place to hold them over the winter that isn't going to freeze. I'm sure you could probably let them go dormant in your garage unless it gets too cold too. Trees are nice, but boy, that digging can be backbreaking. I don't have help here, so it is all left up to me. I did take in some potted brugs last winter and a couple of them will eventually make trees. Most of mine seem to Y when they hit the 5 ft. or even less, mark. Dr. Suess tends to get a little taller. I hope you can figure out what to do for your area. I think Craig and Martha have always just kept their brug in a pot because I didn't know when I gave them to them that brugs could be wintered over outside. Good luck with yours.