WOW!
I left home for Lake Texhoma on 5-26 and had 1 C.G. via Clare that had 1 little bloom. I came home last night to see the same plant with over 6 blooms and it's in a pot. I have a Frosty Pink that began as a cutting 2 months ago or so and it has many blooms too but the plant is so short, they're almost dragging the ground:(. Then I turned around and found another teenybrug with a double white and that 1 is touching the dirt. You guys all told me to expect a wonderful aroma but HOLYCOW! Even the double white spreads a awesome scent everywhere!. I'm so glad I kept the Grimaldi on the deck! I have the patio door that opens to the deck and it's located less than 10 feet from my bed. Goodness...My house smells so wonderful!!! Thanks to all of you that got me interested in and started with the Brugs!!! My nieghbor's all think we're some sort of gardening God's to have such plants and they've never seen Brug's before! LOL I love it.
QUESTION: Should I prune up these short brug's to get the blooms off the ground? I also wonder how and why my best brug is growing in a pot. Well the potted plant has had a big head start so I'm sure that has the most to do with it.
Now I'm going out to feed these babies as they haven't seen any serious flower food yet. It's going to be the most beautiful gardens ever this summer. I'm seriously considering skipping our Florida vacation so I can stay home and baby my babies! I would of never ever thought I could feel this strongly about our gardens!LOL
YEAH!! My 1st Brug Blooms!
Congrats Jeff. It just doesn't get any better than this. Love hearing the success stories.
Congratulation Jeff... some accomplishment is it to be able to see a bloom and enjoy their fragrance. Enjoy :)!
We are all enjoying your luck in gettimg blooms. The smell of these babies is well worth the wait.
Enjoy your babies, Jeff!
You grew them!
Bonnie
Congrats, Jeff on your blooms.
Jeff,I am glad you are seeing why I am so nuts on these plants,you will have to come over soon,I have a spot for you and blooms on the way.
Gosh Root, your yard will be brug central! I wonder if the aroma will get to be too much sitting on your new back deck at night. The other night, my backyard was overpowering. Too much of a good thing!
Jeff, sounds like you are off to a great start. We need pictures! What I often do is sit my short plants that are blooming on another flower pot that I have turned upside down or I use a cement block to elevate!
Just wait Jeff, as your obsession grows, you will be the talk of Kansas. It will give Root a rest. LOL
Many congrats, Jeff, and PLEASE send pics, we must see your babies!!! Are the planted in the ground??? If not, sit them on your deck steps, or anything you have around that will keep the blossoms off the ground.
Root, your place looks wonderful and so do your plants, you have a wonderful setup!!!!
Congratulations on your pretties!!
Way to go Jeff! It sounds like you have been definitely bitten by the brug bug!
Root -- your garden is looking great! I kind of like the tilt of the picture, adds some character!
Congratulations on the bloom! May you have many more...lol.
Thanks everyone for the compliments. Many of your replies sound like getting these babies to bloom takes some skill or lots of luck. Is this true? I didn't know some of these are hard to get to bloom. My CG is blooming like mad with many buds right behind the blooms and the Frosty Pink is also blooming like crazy. My Golden Lady produced 1 bloom so far and it is a double bloom and almost totally white. Is that par for the course? I haven't looked it up yet. I find it very odd that my biggest brug with the most blooms is in a pot on the deck. The Frosty pink was just put into the ground from a pot 1 week ago and is going off great but since it's so short, the blooms are harder to see. The same goes for the Golden Lady.
Should I prune them up from the bottom to get them taller? I want to bigtime but I'm hesitating due to lack of experience with them.
I have several other Brug's in the ground that aren't doing as well as the others for some odd reason, I'm trying to dial it in via trial and error so far.
This spring has been very weird, the entire garden seems 1 month ahead of itself compared to past years. I also find it very strange that my best Passiflora's are in pots too.LOL Just as I think I have something figured out, it throws me a curve ball every time.LOL I love it none the less.
I did an accidental experiment with all of my Dat's too. Since we went on a week long Memorial Day weekend, I put everything on timer's for automating all the watering via my mini sprinkler system. Well I have 1 area that was grossly over watered compared to all the other gardens. You'd think those plants would be looking sad but it's just the opposite! All my different Dat's were the same size when I left town. When I got home I found the Dat's that were being watered around 5 gallons per day are giants! The other's that were always watered well, just not to the extreme the others were are 1/3rd the size of the overwatered giants! The giants were also getting much less direct sunlight. It's all a mystery with every garden this spring and I love it. I just wished I knew exactly why. LOL I guess I should quit and think "why ask why".LOL
I'll take pictures ASAP and let you guys help me figure this stuff out.
Thanks everyone!
Jeff
I would not cut or prune. Your cuttings are from the blooming zone that is why the flowered so quickly. If you cut , you remove the bloom producing growth and it may take months to bloom again.
This (your) type of cutting is more bush like and will never be a tree.
If you let a shoot that grows straight up from the bottom get about 8 inches tall , cut that and this will make the tree shape you want. Then you wait for that plant to 'do the y thing' before that starts blooming.
Anso On and on ..................
IMO ............... for all it's worth, LOL
I think Scoot means 8 feet.
So, which is correct???? I have a very tall shoot but not 8 feet, more like 5. You mean I should/could cut and root it when it becomes 8 feet???
I think what she was saying is that when it gets a basal shoot, from the soil, you can cut it off when it is about eight inches and it will make a tall and probably straight plant for next year. I generally let mine get big enough that they are showing some hardening of the outter layer before I cut them off to root.
Thanks, Shirley!!! I do have this giant, as in tall, green shoot, that I discovered after my brug was hit by some kinda crop 'poison', which was thrown from a helicoptor, by error. Defoliated my brug, but the plant is fine, just nude, except for top knots. I just measured the shoot and it is almost 6 feet. Earlier, it was soft and green, but it has hardened up some what. If I cut it off, how close to the ground should I cut it?? I can kinda tell from other brugs I've purchased, they they are cut off maybe 6 inches from the ground. Should I cut up sections and plant them side ways??? I'm ready, willing and able!!! What in the world would I do without you, Shirley!!!!! I sincerely admore you mentors that are willing to walk we newbies through all this!!!!!! SherryLike
Sherry, if you want it tall and straight, cut it off at the soil line or lower, if you can, and root it as is. If you want a bunch of the same plant, you could cut it into sections. I guess it all depends on what you want. You could also put some wet spaghnum moss around the cane and wrap in foil or plastic and let it root while on the main plant. After it is rooted, you can cut it off below the roots and plant it. I like to use plastic because I can see the roots when they have formed. If you use the moss, make sure it always stays moist. I just use a big handfull and form it around the trunk, cover with a clear plastic bag, and secure it top and bottom so the moss is tight against the trunk.
Shirley posted: if you want it tall and straight, cut it off at the soil line or lower, if you can, and root it as is. If you want a bunch of the same plant, you could cut it into sections. I guess it all depends on what you want
Kinda odd, Shirley. I never knew I'd like tall trees, until I saw Monika's photos today, I've finally gotten the picture. Of course I want them tall and straight, whew, who knew??!! You are a sweetie, Shirley, thanks!!!!!!!!
You're welcome Sherry. I hope you have good luck with your basal shoot.
Shirley...am I understanding that if I have a cutting from the flowering region it will never beable to become an alley tree? If it won't, should I be continuing to knock off the side leaves? Are they only able to become shrubs when taken from the flowering region?
Hey, Margie, this winds me up too. Shirley, I have the beginning of a tall tree, but, likely, because of my miss management, the tree has long limbs and is not getting any taller. Should I be 'grooming' the long limbs?? If so, where should I make my cuts?????? Thanks!!! SherryLike
I think Brugie hit the recliner,I have one I am doing tomorrow,I will get a pic,I hope I can explain it.
Margie, some cuttings taken from the flowering region will become fairly tall, but not like an alley tree. Any time you want to get a tall brug, you must take the cutting from below the first Y. I am not sure about taking cuttings from below the first Y on a plant started from the flowering region, but it seems to me that it should work. I just don't know. I do know that the basal shoots are generally tall and straight and make gorgeous trees. Some of your best trees will come from seed. This picture will show you the difference. All of these are in pots. My DH, Jim, is standing behind the only seedling in the group of brugs and Jim is over six foot tall.
Shirley, your plants are just wonderful and so healthy and not a bug bite anyplace. The leaves on the tall tree look at big as Elephant Ears!!!! Looks like zone 5a is a great place for brugs!!! Jim is pretty spiffy too!!!!!!
Thanks Sherry. That was last year's picture. The tall one is even taller this year and the others are all shredded from the winds. Now the cottonwood seed is flying like crazy. We had our trees topped, but the neighbors didn't and we are eating their seeds day in and day out. LOL!
OK..Bare with me as this is a pre-java post.
My bushy Brug's that are blooming will always be bushy and the others in the yard that are a single stem/shoot will grow into tree like Brug's correct?
I want the few bushy Brugs to stay bushy...I think. I have a frosty pink with a basal shoot coming up(right now it's a bushy brug) and if I leave that shoot alone, it will grow tree like? Do I need to remove the basal shoot from the bush or remove the bush from the basal shoot? Or can I get both kinds of growth if I leave the basal growing from the bushy 1?
Another Q. What should I do with all these spent flower pods? They have that little string like thing sticking out from the middle and are ugly IMO. I don't think they had a chance to get pollenated so I don't expect seed pods from them this early. Can I just wack them off w/o messing up the looks?
Well you guys are lucky I went on vacation in the sandy beaches around Lake Texhoma. Pushing my wheelchair around in that stuff for a week makes my carpal tunnel swell so much, I can't feel my left hand at all unless I get out my braces....I doubt yopu'll be seeing any more of my notorious "marathon posts" for a while!LOL I'm so happy I had my right hand fixed over winter. It used to swell up so big, I couldn't bend my fingers.
Jeff, if you want the shoot to be straight as a string, you need to remove it and root it. Otherwise, the existing foliage on the bush will push it to the side and it will grow at an angle. I'd remove the shoot, not the bush.
You can cut the spent blooms off with a pair of clippers or scissors, leaving a little bit of the stem on so it will die off naturally and be well healed over. Breaking them off works, but sometimes it also peels a little of the stalk if it doesn't break cleanly. When finished, sterilize your clipper/scissors before using on another plant.
Sorry about the CT. I've heard it is very painful. Bet you built up more strength in your arms trying to get through that sand though. Hope over all, it was a good vacation.
AHHH! More Java and a wrist brace make all the difference.
I'm also pumped about having my first Datura blooms for this season.
Question: Why do my D. Metal and D. Tatula put out teeny tiny flowers from tiny plants(maybe 6 inches tall) and my D. Inoxia have to grow to twice the size before blooming flowers that are twice the size? I've never seed Dat's w/ such tiny flowers but this is my first year with anything other than D. Inoxia.
1 more mystery. The D. Inoxia I gave away last year came back for everyone except for the originals we planted in our yard. We even had ours on the S. side of the house and kept them warm over winter with mulch/clippings just like we did with the cannas and many others that aren't supposed to come back in my region.
Man the Inoxia's didn't come back but they sure as heck seeded themselves like CRAZY! I thought we picked every seed pod, obviously not as there are 1000 seedlings over there if there is 1. Now I have D. Inoxia, Cleome(spiderflower), cosmos(which we haven't planted in 3 years) and P. Incarnata trying to take over the entire side of the house! And I don't mean just some plants, this is a "hostile" take over!LOL I'm glad some came up but I started so many of them indoor's this winter...I now have enough of these guys to populate every yard in town IMO.
I tried to take pictures for you all yesterday but our digicam is practically worthless if there is any motion. I'm going to get Mom's camera today and will get tons of killer pics.
I need to see pics of everyone's P. Incarnata. When comparing pictures over winter of this Passiflora, a few people thought mine wasn't the true Incarnata because of it's wonderful color. Well mine has to be the original since I found it growing wild 4 years ago in a rocky, roadside ditch by our cabin 5 miles North of the Texas border in Oklahoma.
I've seen some vigourous plant's in my time but this baby takes the cake as well as my yard and my nieghbor's now.LOL Runner's popping up up to 30 feet away now from the 1 tiny original plant.
See Ya'll later with lotsa pictures I hope;)
JD
Thank you for answering my questions Shirley...
I guess I would still like to know if I should continue taking off the side shoots from my cuttings or just let them fill out as they want ?
Your seedling sure got big! How old is it about? And what is its cross? Monster leaves!
Jeff,let me know when you get rested up,you need to plan on coming over in a few days,now get us some pics up!
If I want mine to bush, I just let them go unless someone needs a cutting. That seedling was probably about 8 months old at most. Cross unknown.
LOL...going way back on this thread....... Sorry Scoot, it never occurred to me you would cut off an 8 inch shoot to become an alley tree. This is why Dave's is so great. You get to see how other people approach things. I have never cut off such a small shoot to make an alley tree. I always wait till the sucker has grown to the height I want before I cut it off the mother plant and have it grow its own roots.
I find that a sucker will grow at an incredibly fast pace and become the height you want it within 2 months or less. It has the huge mother roots to draw on.
Here is a sucker to Big Yella that I am about to cut off and make my new Big Yella alley tree for the old Big Yella got too huge and also was slanted for I did not stake it straight. You can see the entire 10 feet is all almost all the fast growing green growth. It zoomed up in size. I want the bottom foot to be more woody before I cut it off, though I have rooted all green sprouts this tall with success though it can be trickier to do so successfully!
I was too close to take the pic in one shot, it is by a fence so I did it in 2 shots.
Here is the base of Big Yella. It has fathered tons of huge alley trees for local friends you can see. See all those cut off? They are big diameter suckers cut off.
The sucker pictured above is actually taller then Big Yella. I am going to cut it off and root it. Get my son to dig out the old Big Yella roots and start a new. This time I will not allow any sucker growth to grow or sideshoots to mar my Alley tree look. You can see how ugly the base has become and if you let the sideshoots attain any diameter, when you cut them off you leave a fairly big scar. I am refining my alley tree approach. I want to me like Monika!
Kell ,
..........Hahaha, and here I expected Root to tell how he cuts eenie-weenie shoots off to root them.
I never thought (duh! ) of the growth benefit of it being attached to mombrug . Do they get crooked or can you just plant it straight after removal ?
I have my brugs in the ground this time and getting a lot of suckers from below the soil level.
TNX for the info, I'll let some of these grow for a while. I just worry about getting them rooted and growing before winter storage.
re: your last picture ..............
Some picture !!!
A regular brug factory . This is good to know.
I have found all of mine, even those from potted plants, grow straight. Now they may grow at an angle from the Mom but straight up at the angle so when you cut them off you just have to stick them straight up in the pot to fix it.
I agree with Brugie, seedlings usually grow up straight and tall for alley trees but it takes them awhile. See seedling Stubby in the middle of my brug garden? He is so straight and tall and the trunk is fat and perfect for an alley tree. This canopy naturally has a good full beginning for an alley tree.
He is so fat and has such a huge canopy already that I will stick some wet moss and foil on him to root him as he stands. If I were to cut him off at the base as I prefer to root these tall ones, I would have to cut too much of his canopy off.
Why would you re-root him....why not just leave him with the roots he has already? Am I missing something???
He is in my brug garden for seedlings, Margie. And I do not want him anyway. But he is such a perfect alley tree I can't kill him. I will pot him up as an alley tree and then dig up his roots. I do most of my brugs in pots. I can move them around that way and feature my favs of that year in my courtyard. My yard is small.
In the future I think I will grow them in pots when planted in my soil in the brugling garden. Easier to get out.