I think it's time for a haircut.....

Charles Grimaldi is becoming unruly, in dire need of a haircut and some dead-heading dontcha think?!

Happenstance, do you leave your brugs in the ground all year?

Those CG's are stunning! I purchased one about a month ago and it is about 1-1/2 feet tall. If ever it grows to produce anything like that, I'll be dancing on air!

He's very handsome, that Charlie!
Bonnie

Oh, am I excited. Irish just sent me a CG brug in the secret tropical trade. If it gets a tenth the blooms of this one I'll be a happy gardener. Jenny

wow its beauty. another one to add to my growing lists of wants.

the profusion of bloom is great. bet it smells wonderful too.

I think your CG looks wonderful, I cannot imagine ever having such a brug - I do bet a haircut just makes it look bigger and better and, if such a thing could be possible, it might make even more blossoms!! Do send photos if you go through with your plan, I'd love to see the 'after' pic...

Boy, I'm not sure I'd give it a haircut. You would just be cutting off future blooms. I do the trimming in the fall after bloom time is over. I don't know how that would work in your zone. He sure looks great.

It does smell amazing and fills the garden and the house with its wonderful aroma. They do stay in the ground year round and these two are a year old.

Brugie, as far as future blooms go.....these same two plants were pruned severely at least 3 times from July til Dec last year. They bloomed right up til around Christmas. Full branches and 3-4' of tips of branches were removed. Additionally the wind took out a large top branch on one of them during a winter storm.

I pruned them once already this year because they were shading the plants underneath and behind them. I'm not finding that pruning them curtails new blossoms or if it does, I still think it has plenty! :-)

Here's the one on the right last year in early July.

Let me tell you guys & gals...having seen Candy's garden...she has a magic touch with all of her plants, plus she is so willing to share! A wonderful gal !!! Love your CG Candy!!!
Heading for the AHS convention(s) tomorrow, through the 11th of July...talk to you after the trip!
Margie

Have a fun, safe trip, Margie!!!!!!!!

I have to say that if you are doing that much pruning, I need a few cubic feet of your soil and some of your weather. Any chance we could do a trade? LOL!

Spectacular CG! You definitely have the "PERFECT" conditions for growing Brugs!

Margie I hope you and your cohorts have a wonderful time at back to back conventions! I know you'll come home with great memories and a big list of gotta have plants.

Brugie - Trade for Iowa weather?........ hmmmm, well, geee, golly, uhmmmm..... looking for a diplomatic answer here, but I guess I'd have to say, "NO!" LOL Been there done that, not Iowa, but Illinois which is closer to miserable and intolerable than pretty much anywhere!

My experience, although limited to the last year or so, shows me that Brugs love to be pruned. They send out new growth and buds galore. I think they fear for their survival when they see me coming with the BIG BRUG CLIPPERS! In self-defense they then begin growing like crazy and blooming as they again ingratiate themselves in my eyes. :-)

HOT days, cool nights and big clippers is my recipe!

do you keep all them you cut off for new ones?

i just had to come back and look agian as i love the color of this one.

my hubby thinks i am crazy as it is over my last remaining one. i wonder what he would say if i had one like yours blooming. i would probably even talk to it if i had too hehehe

lovely

Happenstance, what is you soil ph there and what do you feed it? How often do you feed?
I was going to scream NO, don't cut it back but if it responds that well to pruning, they I guess it's a good idea. (Eek)!

Do you trim the individual branches? How much do you take off? And do you prune them to keep their shape and appearance? "The Big Brug Clippers!" I love it.

I've found when I prune mine they come back thicker and have more blooms
But my outside growing season is soooo short I keep that pruning for fall
Unless one really needs it

**Do I keep all the cuttings? How much do I trim?

I trim anything that is inhibiting the growth of other surrounding plants and some for shape/form. Usually 3-4' off tips of branches and any limbs that are at cross purposes to the plant as a whole.

There's no way I could keep all the cuttings, unless I had acres of land. I usually fill a 40 gallon green waste can with the branches and cuttings when I do a major pruning job on the brugs. I have about 3 cuttings of CG that are also in ground and blooming. They are 3-5' tall. Oh, also one that I stuck in the ground last week when it was interfering with a rose bush.

**What is my soil PH and what do I feed them?

I have no idea what the PH is, have never tested it. The native soil here is an adobe type clay. MUCK when wet in the winter and like ROCK in the summer without any rain for months at a time. Since I established the garden 5 years ago I have followed the ammendment schedule below.

I spread a liberal amount of commercially bagged manure over the entire garden twice a year, topdress with cocoa hulls twice a year, water potted plants and greenhouse collection with diluted fish emulsion every couple of weeks. I also feed my roses a typical systemic food/insecticide. If I think about it I sometimes feed the Brugs when I'm doing the fish emulsion rounds. My Brugs are all in the ground.

Last week I sprayed everything in the yard with some of Eleanor's VF-11 for the first time, I had been given a gallon as a sample. Can't judge yet whether it improved anything or not.

The entire garden is on a drip irrigation system, watered twice a day for 30 minutes. This works for me in a climate that does 99% of the work for me.

Candy, in addition to being one of the best gardeners I know, I admire and appreciate you for posting and sharing this detailed accounting of your gardening procedure. While each person in their own zone will likely do some things differently, those of us that are new will benefit and hopefully by pass some of the typical or usual pitfalls that plague those that have recently joined the gardening ranks. Thank you so very much, I have copied your post to my special brug file!!!!!!! SherryLike

PS - As soon as the rain stops, I'm going to put my Daturas in the ground - thank you, yet again!!!

holy cow! unreal, never seen so many blooms on one brug, if only it were my brug doing that LOL

kathy

Happenstance, your CG looks fabulous. I have yet to see a bloom on mine, it got a very late start this spring. I took some cuttings last fall, but for one reason or another lost some and the ones that survived were late. but there are buds but will never look like yours.

picturelady, sure wish I were going to the AHS convention. I have been to many in past years, but this year due to financial circumstances beyond my control, I cannot afford to go, much as I would like to visit with friends. Have a good safe trip, and see lots of daylilies. Donna

one more question

is it in full sun or shade? my little one is in full sun but not doing so well. was wondering if mine needs shade?

off to find a cg brug. thanks Marie

Now this is a Bump! I missed this thread and it was brought to my attention.
I think this one deserves a look in case some of you have missed it.So I am bumping it.
Bump.

Oh and edit to say, Happen WOW!

This message was edited Aug 3, 2004 1:17 AM

Charles Grimaldi is my favorite and he is spectacular in your garden Candy. It is great to see him in all of his golden splendor.

This is an old thread and a newer chapter in the life of my CG was started yesterday here, the haircut happened, and 5 weeks later........CG is back in prime form!

http://davesgarden.com/t/447954/

imzadi - sorry I missed your question about exposure! Full sun from about 10AM til sunset.

Here's a picture inside the belly of the beast taken this morning:

This message was edited Aug 3, 2004 1:31 PM

What the heck was the place you just linked to??? is this somewhere here?


I like this,how is this a different look,this ole fool is confussed,I like the tabs up top and look in general.

This message was edited Aug 3, 2004 3:26 PM

Sorry about that root.......it's something that came up while a bunch of folks are doing the Beta test for Dave. I brought the issue up within the Beta test, but haven't gotten an answer yet, so I think I'll go edit it so as not to confuse anyone.

Shoot,I thought it was cool,different look.nice to be able to tab into PDB.

Candy, tell me something...where is that link you provided located????

It was a link to the Beta test site (cause I was there when I first provided the link, which I've now edited to provide you the same info within the DG site as it exists today). I'm sure Dave will make it available DG wide when he's got the bugs worked out.

H. Thank you for the posts,beautiful photos and great information. I have,as most of 'us' do, many books on gardens,several years of Garden Design, and a plethora of odds and ends re: gardens. I don't think I have seen anything which surpasses your gardens. Thanks so much.

Beautiful plant and garden. Green with envy.Thanks for sharing your growing tips.

When I saw this subject title, after starting to view the lovely brug photos, and realizing it would take months for me to go through the threads in the Forum... lol... I decided to post here in admiration for *ALL* you brug growers!

I'm in awe.

In awe of *ALL* of you for the beauty you share from your gardens, and with so much reason to be proud.

I'll have a solarium *AND* a greenhouse... someday... I just know it! ;)

*HUGS*
Donna/TuttiFrutti