Tomorrow I am going to have to trim this brug way back to fit into the hoophouse. I was going to leave it out and hope for the best but decided that would be stupid. I have so many big trees this year with huge canopies for being in pots. So sad!!!
Tonight we laid it on its side and covered it with sheets. I will be so sad not to have it it in full flower where I can see all the time.
It will no doubt get mangled on its way to the back yard. I hope some of the pods stay on!
I really hate having to cut them back for winter. I really miss smelling them when I pull in the driveway and walk up my walkway. I'm thankful our winters are short
I sure know how you felt Kell. We were suppose to get in the mid twenty's last night and tonight, so I had to
cut all my brugs back and dig the pots. It was so hard to cut off all those beautiful blooms.
She is soooo pretty. Just think...by chopping now she will have a chance of surviving and growing in the hoop house. Left outside on her own, she might not. Next year you will again have some beautiful flowers on her.
She is beautiful Kell and I'm sure she'll be more beautiful next year. Time seems to pass so quickly these days that it will be spring time again before you know it. :-)
She deserves to be saved! It is a beautiful plant!
I am still tryignt o get out of it! LOL. Plus it will be hard to move these big pots to the back yard. The temperature only got down to 42 last night. Tonite it is forcasted to go to 35 which is very unusual for here this time of year, then it will go right back into the 40s in the night for the reat of the week.
Will most brugs survive with no damage at 35? I am now thinking about just trimming them to fit and putting them on my front porch. Will Creamsickle, Butterfly, Rosamond, and CG do OK on an open porch if it does go to say 32? I will move my EP into the hoophouse today. And all my brug plants in the back yard will go in. My plants in the ground are another matter. I have to think about those.
Thanks for any help!
Kell, mine all survived a hard frost in the garden. The leaves turned black but the blooms when ahead and opened, at least a lot of them did and as soon as it warmed a bit, they all got new leaves all the way to the top. I was shocked to see that happen.
What temp is considered a hard frost?
We were at 31 or 32 for sure, but it could have been colder.
Kell,
sure got cold again last night. the temperature went down to 29.5ºF at dawn this morning. there is snow prediction for the weekend. it is now in the lower 40's.
most of my brugs on the ground has turned blonde LOL. there were some frost damaged on the leaves, but the buds keep on going. i still see lots of new growth.
in all the previous years of visit to the northern Calif. area, i have seen so many brugs blooming during the winter time in people's front yard. brugs seemed to be doing good in northern Calif. if i were u, maybe i won't be worried as much.
i've seen people decorate their brugs trees with x-mas light, i guess to give them some warmth?
I would move Creamsickle also into the hoophouse. You have to differ between air- and ground frost. 32F equals 0°C.
Most Brugmansias withstand air frost of -2°C without damage if they had time to harden up. This means, sinking temperatures over several weeks. ground frost is only dangerous for small plants.
Oooooh kell, try the white Christmas lites anyway, wouldn't it be beautiful?
Shoot, wrap em right up the stem!
And...of course, take a photo for us ;>)
I don't have nearly the collection that you have Kell, so I have a few cuttings in the GH and I'm leaving the brugs in the ground. With only 'Double White', 3 'Charles Grimaldi', 1 - Herrenhauser Garten' baby, 1 - 'Pink Beauty' baby, and 1 - unidentified "Scarlet" in the ground, I am hoping they do OK.
I have a 4' potted 'Inca Princess' in the GH that I just bought so it will stay there for the winter.
It was 40F at 8AM, so I know it was colder in the night and the in ground ones look fine. The only thing good I can say about our wind is that it does tend to deter frost from settling.
Best of luck to you and DH too.....dontcha hate football?!!!
