Newbie "DUH" question of the day

I am embarrassed to show my complete ignorance of these lovely plants, especially since I have seen such knowledgeable posts here. But my daddy always told me that there was no shame in asking questions. So here goes....

I live in coastal Louisiana and have three baby brugs in large containers. From reading the posts on this forum, I have gleaned a little information, but am still largely in the dark concerning how brugs grow.

I know you guys can help clear up my questions.

1) I have read that many people cut back their plants. Why? Can't I leave them as they are?

Which brings me to....

2) Since many talk of cutting them back, I have the impression that brugmansia are supposed to grow and bloom in one season. Is that true?

3) Has anyone in the south overwintered them outside? This past winter, we didn't have a 'hard' freeze. The peach versicolor was the only one I had at the time, and it survived my neglect and winter in a too-small container, outside. Was I just lucky?

4) If they do produce blossoms, is one supposed to remove them at some point to help the plant? Or simply leave them in place?

Thank you for any help you can provide.

Jean

Jean,

I am a "newbie" too, and can't answer your questions. I'm sure someone who can will be along soon.

You're Daddy was right ................ they're great questions, and I will be watching for the answers too.

Hi Jean. I am not from La but I would think in your zone they would be fine outside for the winter. Here I am in zone 9A or 9B, and it can get down to 28 degrees for a couple of hours and mine can get leaf burn but the stalks are fine. Every 10 years we or so we get a long freeze over several days and the ones planted in the ground with no protection die to the ground but usually come back up. If you have one you are madly in love with, take a cutting in the fall and grow it in the house for insurance. Versicolors are usually more sensitive to the cold.

From seeds, these can bloom in one season. A few people get them to grow to bloom in 4 months but usually it takes at least 6 months minimum I have found. If yours are from cuttings from the top region from a flowering brug they will bloom sooner than later! That means this summer, soon! LOL

I think people are referring to fall when they cut them back to put them to sleep for the winter or to fit them in their GH. I do not cut them back until early spring in my zone. If potted, I cut the roots and give them fresh soil and cut the canopy to match. Other than that, people may cut them to maintain their shape.

If I have not pollinated a bloom, I remove the spent bloom for appearance!

Good response Kell. Good luck with your new addiction, LSP. Plan on having at least 15 next year and the numbers continue to climb.

Jean, I'm no expert, but all I know about brugs I have learned from reading posts and asking questions here and reading Monika's book.

Yes, you can winter brugs outside in the ground. I'm on the FL/AL line and I've only lost 1 or 2 over the 5 or 6 years I've had them. I have lots in pots which I put inside a greenhouse in winter, but one did get left out last winter and it came back too, but I wouldn't count on that happening all the time. I do put hay over the rootball area just to help protect from the occasional freeze we get.

You don't have to cut yours back if you don't want to. The ones I have in the ground I just let go natural, and take cuttings before the first freeze, then cut the rest to the ground usually after it freezes. I've been chicken to prune the ones in pots, but I need to for appearence sake and the fact that one is so topheavy and unbalanced that it falls over all the time.

I've started some from seed, but sure haven't had one bloom the same season. I probably don't fertilize enough . They do need a good bit of fertilizer. I use a slow release granule and then miracle grow when watering.

Sometimes I pull out the brown bloom itself, but don't break off the whole thing. There could be a developing seed pod in there if it got pollinated.

If you have time all along, scan back over the older posts. There have been some really good discussions over the last couple of years here. Or you might try the F.A.Q. forum.

Brugs become rather addictive just like DG.

This message was edited Jun 17, 2004 4:02 PM

Excellent information! Thank you! More! More!

I have read about folks who have tons of brugs, and I don't know how they find time to care for them. I am babying these three along, doing everything but putting diapers on them (LOL). With the rest of the yard to care for, it can sometimes get overwhelming.

And YES, I have had to restrain myself from going on a "brug-binge" -- they are so pretty, and once you catch the "brug-bug," it is difficult to stop!

I have had the peach versicolor for about a year, but it hasn't done anything until recently, because it was in a too-small container and I had neglected it terribly. Now that it has been moved to an adequate container and is getting regular care, it seems to be taking off.

I bought the Snowbank and Charles Grimaldi just recently from Joe (maintreefrog), and received beautiful, healthy, established plants. The Snowbank is a couple of months old and I just got the CG several weeks ago.

Oh my goodness! If any of them actually bloom this year I will be thrilled!

Jean

I am not too far from you. I live in northwest Florida, about 40 miles east of Pensacola. My brugs are in the ground. They die back in the winter and re-emerge in spring. They get to be about 6-7 feet each year and bloom most of the summer and fall. Sometimes I cut them back, sometimes not. I will usually cut them back in early winter. I send some cuttings to friends and keep a few for myself, just in case I lose one. then I will have a backup. They root very easily from cuttings. They are heavy feeders. I also put my coffee grounds around them. They love that and green right up. My frosty pink has been blooming for almost a month. My Dr. Suess (a must have) has buds that will open any day now. It must have 20 buds on it. I only have 19 brugs, but that is not counting the 23 seedlings that I have growing from seed.

rylaff -- "I ONLY have 19 brugs." AND 23 seedlings! LOL! I would feel as if I were working in a day-care nursery, with so many to look after. It must be so nice to see your brugs blooming. Picture?

Thank you for letting me know how they grow in the south. This information is invaluable to me, and I appreciate it.

I have heard that Dr. Seuss is a must-have. Isn't that cultivar similar to Charles Grimaldi?

Again, thanks!

Jean

It is. My Dr. Seuss blooms like crazy. And I just love how the little tendrils on the flowers curley que up (like in the Dr. Seuss books). Every now and again, my brugs get a little droopy from the sun. But I give them a drink, and they perk right up. I will take a picture of Dr. Seuss soon , since he is fixing to bloom.

Gosh, I thought you only had three. You aren't a newbie with that many. I'll bet they have been gorgeous for you in the past. Hope you have a camera to post this year's pictures. You know how we like pictures. LOL!

Brugie, rylaff is the one who has all those brugs. I have my little "herd" of three :))

Jean

Oh, okay....it was the copy and paste thing that threw me. Okay, you are back to being a newbie. LOL! Still want to see pictures if possible. I'm a sucker for a brug bloom and I don't care what color it is or how big it is. I love them all.

Is it okay if I show my ignorance on this thread? I hope so cause here goes. Is this brug going to bloom ? If not what are those things?

LF. I'm a newbie & don't have any Brugs even close to blooming, but I'd say those look like blooms to me!
Congrats!
Be sure to post pics!
Bj

Yup! Its gonna be blooming right soon for ya! Congratulations!

Sue, it will be real soon too. First you will see the curly tendrils come out of the calyx and then in a couple of days, it will begin to open. Usually by the second day you will see the color it will be. Congrats. I didn't know you were growing one. Maybe after you have the experience of this one you will come take some off my hands this fall. LOL!

From one Newbie to another, congrats on those buds!

Brugie, this came from you last year! I had given up hope of ever seeing a bloom. Some funny curly long things are coming out now. I think I am getting excited!

All right Sue. Send me an email with the name of the cross or brug you got from me. I can't remember. I thought you got one at the last little mini roundup in August, but sure don't remember what it was. I'm glad you are getting excited. Just wait until it blooms.......I'll have more for you this fall.

Jean, I am in Mandeville, just a stones throw away from you, and I successfully overwinter brugs in the ground here. If we get a freeze, they usually die back to the roots, but return from the roots. I have only had a few that didn't return, why I don't know. The problem with letting them die down to the roots is that you have to wait longer to see bloom in the spring, if then. Last year I never got any spring flushes because it took them so long to return from the root, I didn't have any blooms until fall. This year, with the milder winter, mine have already gotten large enough to have a few spring flushes. I also over winter lots in the greenhouse. I have so many brugs I have lost count, at least 75 full grown ones, and tons of new cuttings in small pots. I gotta cut down some this year, they won't all fit in the greenhouses any more, lol.

Mary, you are ANOTHER brug addict I see. LOL.

My brugs will have to overwinter in their containers, so they will probably be okay if I cover them, should a frost occur. But remember last winter? No freeze. I guess that's why the versicolor survived outside.

Thanks for the info!

Where do you keep all those brugs int he garden??? They must look so good!

Jean

Hi Jean!!!! Are you the cup/saucer girl????? I've been searching for you, I had computer problems. I ordered from Solutions and I LOVE my cups/saucers!!! Many thanks!! I, by error, posted 2 other LA girls and they didn't have a clue what I was talking about, LOL - I had server problems and have just now gotten everything taken care of. I sent my daughter and my son's wife a set of the cups/saucers, and they LOVE them too!!! Thank you, oh so much for the info!!!!!!

Sherry, you're welcome!

The set I ordered for my sister arrived, as she loves them too. They do make a nice accent in the garden. I couldn't resist those "ice-cream" pastel colors :D

Jean

Jean, I've been out driving my aunt to therapy, but I wanted to tell you some of the things I've been doing because I'm a newbie too. It's not that I especially wanted to cut my brugs back, but I wanted to learn how to do rooting and I find that I've fallen in love with the tree brugs, alley trees, such as the ones Kell and Monica grow. Please understand that I doubt I'll ever be able to do it, but those are definitely the ones I like best, I love being able to plant other stuff under them and I like seeing a better view of the blossom. I also like the clean appearance of the trunks, I LOVE the 7 year brug that Monika sent recently and I didn't even see a flower. So far (and I really haven't really started yet because of the rain) I've rooted 15+. They are the common brugs which I do not plan to keep or feature in my garden, so I'm trying to learn on them, so I'll be ready when it's time to take cuttings from a special brug. I've given most of the cuttings I've started to friends and we haven't lost one yet, we're having lots of fun. BTW, the 8 I rooted last Thurs already have roots, and big ones. thick and really healthy appearing.....I'm in zone 8a and I have kept my very large first brug, that divided into two large plants last year, wintered outside last year with two 3 cubic yards of cypress mulch on them and they have really taken off this year, but have not bloomed yet and, I think, that, in order to have something bloom early that it would have to winter inside, and I plan that for my special brugs this winter. I have a large yard, and I plan to plant as many of the common brugs as I have and leave them out all year round.

I thought your questions were good and I've enjoyed reading the solutions, I read the newbie stuff first!! SherryLike

Jean, I forgot to tell you that it won't be long before I attempt to root an alley tree from a branch off the brug I wintered outside last year. There are any number of long, straight limbs or branches and I'm going to whack off a few and see what happens. I have a beautiful Rosamond that Barbara Ward sent me, and it has a beautiful long, fairly straight trunk, with other Yed areas growing beneath. If I ever get the courage, and after I've tried it with the common brugs, and if it works, I'm going to do the same thing with Rosamond - my most beautiful brug and she has already bloomed, she is stately and stands out from the others, I really love her...

Sherry...my Rosamond didn't bloom yet...none of my new ones did :-(
Can you post a photo of yours? BTW...I am happy for you! :))

It wasn't a very good photo, but I posted it on a thread that I think Rooty started. I'll look and let you know. There were two blooms and one was damaged, so I didn't think it would bloom but it did, beautiful, my goodness, pink is my color...

Margie, my Rosamond photo is 6th from the end on a thread titled, 'Nice night for brugs'.....

Sherry! You're no longer a 'newbie' if you are already making cuttings! Gee, I don't even know how to go about doing that, or from where one should take the cutting. You go girl!

I am hoping that I will see some sort of bloom this year.

I learn by gathering information from various sources: Books, the Internet, advice from those who have dealt with plants, etc. Then I consolidate the information on one of my Gardening pages as a permanent reference upon which I can rely. Re-typing the information on the page kind-of sets the information in my mind.

The only other way I effectively learn is for someone to stand behind me, tell me what to do, and then thunk me on the head. LOL.

Thanks for your information. Sounds like you are really getting into brugs too.

I, also, love the "tree-form" brugs with the clean, rather straight trunks and the 'puff-ball' of foliage at the top. Right now, though, I'm leaving my babies alone. I don't want to mess with them and possibly prevent them from growing and/or flowering.

Again, thanks.

Jean

Jean, you live so close, you are welcome to visit my garden any time and see my forrest of brugs, lol.

Jean, let me tell you about my first three cuttings - they were accidental, LOL! During a heavy wind a limb fell out of a tree and topped one of the brugs. It was broken in three pieces and I stuck them in dirt and they took and rooted. The next time, I cut back my tree brug, I put all the cuttings in a powder, a hormone, made to hasten rooting, called TakeRoot - I did it on a Thursday, and the next Tuesday, only 5 days, they were rooted with big, fat, nice, white roots - I found that out by accident too, when one of the plants fell apart when I had to put it in a different pot. Jean, you should try rooting, it is easy and fun and quick, I'm an instant gratification girl and 5 days worked for me - I really could not believe my eyes!! Shirley has helped me lots, she seems to have a 'just do it' attitude and it's contagious, sp, and gave me the little push I needed to just go ahead and try things, without all the pondering. I think the thing that helps me most, besides my dear new DG friends, is that I have 4 very healthy, heavily blooming, common brugs, without names, from the local nursery, and I'm trying everything I can on them, to give myself the needed experience when I need it for my special, named brugs. Mind you, it took me months to reach this conclusion and I've learned more that I ever thought possible, right here in my barn grotto.
Mary, I'd love to see your forrest of brugs too - I'm going to Biloxi in July, but won't get to the Mandeville area until the first week in December - but maybe we will have a late freeze this year....

Thanks Mary! I just know that we will be able to meet up sometime in the future. I love reading your posts too! Have you posted pictures of your garden that I missed?

Sherry, that seems to be the way to go...."just do it." Of course, you had a little "help" from Mother Nature when she knocked that limb from your brug! I think you are right. I should just quit obsessing and experiment with them if I want. I do that with the rest of the garden -- ordering plants that aren't supposed to grow here and such -- pushing the zone and playing arround to see what will happen.

(Just looked at your member page Sherry. I wanna puppy!!! LOL. What a cute pup!)

When I am hesitant to do something, I just think, "What's the worst that can happen?" and then I don't worry about it any more. But I love "experimenting" in the garden. And if something dies....well, I just blame it on 'depressed plants' -- they must have committed suicide -- That's my story and I'm sticking to it! LOL.

Oh, I obsess too, Jean!! I try to leave the plants alone, but it's difficult, that's why I had to have enough plants that I could experiment, and I keep a few on the side that I do not touch and, right now, they are the ones that are doing the best. I just wish they would all move quicker - but then, how can they, even the crops are having trouble with all this rain. So, it's good to have the dogs too, they love to be groomed. Here is a photo of Rivermist Chipsy Rose Lee. She will be bred to the puppy on my member page, who is almost two years old. Chipsy is three and neither have been bred before and, they were bred to be bred to each other!!! Kinda sounds like brugs, doesn't it, ha??!!

Ha! Just don't lop off any of their limbs! :D

Jean, I love your "depressed plants committing suicide" diagnosis! Can I borrow it sometimes? uh, many times?! lol
Yvonne

Yvonne, it is a good diagnosis to have handy! Feel free to use it (believe me -- I have others too!). LOL.