Winter Kill

These 2 brugs are what remain from my first overwintering of brugs. I dug them up in Oct. before first frost, potted them up, pruned to above Y's and stripped off most foliage. Then I put them in a cold, dark bulb cellar. They grew for a few months, eerie white chlorophyll free stalks. Then the winter had a terrible cold snap for several weeks. They may have frozen. I pulled them out in mid-March. On the left is Suav. White and on the right is Jamaica Yellow. I also lost most cuttings I tried to overwinter. I simply didn't have the GH space to keep them in the light. Next year...

I want to know peoples' opinion on whether this will grow out and be a nicely shaped plant? It is dead above the foliage and I have several stalks growing here from the base.

hey studley, I'm no expert, but your brugs look like they have survived the winter with flying colors and are well on their way to grandeur...... You did good! I cant wait to see photos of the blooms...

The other one has already Y'd, so blooms will soon follow.

Hey Studley,we are in pretty much the same boat,just drug this one out and have a leaky hose misting it.

Wow! That's one ugly tree. We should line up all 3 of our brugs and have an ugly contest. We should do it soon before they grow and bloom.

This is my first year overwintering brugs too Studley. Some of mine look better than others, and some of mine are sickly looking, but I'm hoping that as soon as they can go outside they will get better.

I've got one that can be entered into the ugly brug contest too. I don't know what will happen with this one.

I think the one you have that's bushing out from the bottom may turn out to be a lovely plant. I had one that did that and it's now starting to looking pretty good.

This one is my favorite, and looks like it may start putting out buds soon too.

I wintered my brugs over in the dark crawl space of our house, and when I brought them out about 6 weeks ago, they looked pretty pitiful, but are starting to look better all the time. Except for the ones in the sickly ward.





This message was edited Sunday, Apr 27th 5:33 PM

Joan yours look great!all of yours were stored cold and dark?
Studley here is ugly,LOL

Root, yes all mine were stored in the cold and dark from October until around the first of March when I brought them out. Our crawl space stays about 50 degrees, and the only time the light is ever on is when someone goes in there to check the furnace or something. I did give them a bit of water once or twice. I didn't save all of them though, some did die.

I would love to see a photo of those brugs you say are ugly in about a month. It's interesting to see how they change over time. This is my second year with Brugs, and I find them very facinating plants.

Boy Root, that second one really is ugly. I think I'd put that one in the ground and straighten it up before it starts growing the other direction on the top. I have some really ugly ones sitting out on the drive. They are so ugly, I wouldn't waste my time taking a picture. I think most people would call them dead. Thought I might get some growth from the roots, but it isn't going to happen. Will take me half a day just to get them out of the pots.

Edited to say that you all did very well with your brugs. This was a bad brug winter for me with some and others did just great.

This message was edited Sunday, Apr 27th 7:21 PM

Brugie, if they start to smell bad, you probably won't get new growth from them. Good luck wrestling them from their pots. Those pots cost money, you know!
Joan, why is your brug watchin a helicopter on TV? Don't you know that could hurt their eyes? I think the out of doors is the solution to all of our problems and that Rootdoc is one up on us.
And, yes, rootdoctor, I declare your Brug "Queen Ugly of Pisa."

LOL Studley, That brug has been watching TV for a month or more already and it seems to like it. The ones that have to reach to see the TV are the ones that are stuggling. :)

Studley, they will come back.Even in my GH this winter I lost one and the tops died back on 4 or 5 of them. I think some just can't take any cold at all especially the versis. If you look toward the back of my GH you will see that I have some that look like yours but they are starting to get new leaves so I have hope for them.

Snow this is an ugly Brug thread,LOL,I had to drool my way past those blooms to see yours!
I love it Studley "Ugly Brug of Pisa"she has a name now!

Sorry Root. I took this picture earlier today. If I had known we were going to have an Ugly Brug thread I would have taken a pic of just my sticks. I have more of them in the back corner. LOL

I just wish I could sit in your GH an sniff!!!!

root, The GH is open to the house. From 4PM on I have instant air freshener throughout the whole house.

LOL!I like my tea sweet please.

Got Tetley and lots of sugar. :)

LOL!May be spring at your place by the time I get done in Iowa,mabye I'll just dash over,since I will have the tiller in the truck!

That's it, Snowhermit, hide the uglies in the back!

A man with a tiller is welcome anytime. LOL
Studley, are these the only two Brugs you have?

These are the only two big holdovers. I also have about 6 other cuttings in 1 Gal. containers, some of these 2 and 2 other brugs. I also have about 10 iochroma australis (syn. acnistus?) seedligs heldover also in 1 Gal. I hope to get them to bloom for me this summer.

Snowhermit,
You are very right about many of the versicolors being very intolerant to cold. Not only that, but many are very slow growers. One must confess though that the long slender flowers make them well worth while. And the fact that they tend to throw out so many flowers at one time. I keep hoping that some hardier faster growing versicolors will be created. My Dr.D and Amber Rose, while not pure versicolors do look very much like versicolors and are as tolerant of the cold as any brug in the aurea, suave, versi, type gene pool that you will find. I've also seen where some have crossed those hybrids back to other versicolors. It would be nice to see if they can get some hardier more true to type versicolor hybrids from those crossings. Some darker peaches would be nice as well. Seems so many are working on dark pinks, dark yellows, oranges, etc. Not many working on nice dark peaches though. I like them with a bit longer whiskers though as well. Which makes me drawn to Whiskers, Butterfly, and other such wonderful hybrids for a bit of tendril length. Not to mention that they are mixed hybrids themselves. I know, ever the rambler.

Mine look pretty much like the ones above.But I see they are coming back from the roots. Do I cut back all the old or leave it awhile and see what happens?