I grew my first brugs from stem cuttings this year. They all did beautifully.
A friend who is in 7b zone like myself says that his come back. I had intended to take cuttings and start all over. What are your experiences with plants regrowing in spring in climates like this one, central/Piedmont NC? I would think that they would be stronger and larger, but maybe not, since I can start mine in the (cool) greenhouse.
Thanks everybody!
HARDINESS OF BRUGS?
I live in the Kannapolis area. I left six out last year and they came back from the root but the year before I left one and mulched it very good and it didn't come back. It depends on how cold our winter gets. I sure wouldn't leave a special Brug out without taking some cuttings.
Thanks, ahelms. You are so close by, so I appreciate the input. And since they regrew from the root, I can take cuttings all the way down the stem, as I would anyway. Good deal!
Peter
Best of luck to you Peter on the ones you leave in the ground. By taking cuttings, you'll have backups if they don't come back from the root. Some of mine planted in the ground, I'm going to cut them off at the ground and root them as trees. If they come back from the root fine and if not, I'll have my tree with lots of cuttings.
If you leave them in the ground and mulch them, they should come back in the spring (my Frosty wanna-be and Dr. Seuss have lived through the last 4 winters). They do come back strong, with multiple trunks. However, since the plant has to regrow to the height at which it wants to 'Y', you will probably not get any blooms until September. So, if you want blooms sooner than that you need to overwinter in your greenhouse. Also I think some of the more cold-sensitive varieties like versicolors might not survive if we have a cold winter. The large plants of my "keeper" brugs will be staying in the garage this winter and the smaller ones will be indoors.
I just had an interesting experience. I have a Brugmansia sanguineus 'Scarlet Angel's' which has gotten over 5 ft, with no flowers yet. I went to move the pot and found a root has gone through the 1" drain hole and had almost totally filled the hole. There was no way to lift the pot without breaking the root. I repotted and kept hoping for some bloom.
Yesterday I notice foliage starting to form on the root segment left in the ground. I am beginning to think some of these plants are indestructible.
What cool replies.
ahelms - you mean that you will put the entire plant, minus roots, into a new pot, and feel it should root! You mention cuttings, so I guess you will cut off the ends of the branches, and leave the structure intact?
TomH - When you put the bigger ones in the garage, do you let them go dry, slightly moist? All of mine but one are in the ground, so I think I will try the method of cutting off the whole tree, pot and put in greenhouse, but some will still be too big and will go in the garage.
Tell me more, folks. I love this. I have some that had too much shade, I guess, and are really big but may not bloom this year. They will certainly be cut off whole, as soon as I get the concept clear.
Peter
Incidentally, PotEmUp, I love your story. I don't know much about root cuttings, except that it can be done. Sounds like you did this without planning on it - but maybe brugs can be propogated that way.
Peter, when I overwinter them in the garage, I only water them a little every couple of weeks. I have also overwintered a lantana bush this way for 4 years. The soil should be kept on the dry side with just enough moisture to keep the roots alive. This year I am also going to try overwintering some trunk cuttings in a bucket of water with an aquarium bubbler - hopefully I will have rooted plants in the spring that I can plant and get blooms from quickly.
Got it, Tom.
This was my first year, and I got trunk cuttings from a DG friend. I started them soaking in our garage, no bubbler. When nothing happened in about a month or six weeks, I moved the jars inside the house. They rooted nicely, and sprouted. Put them in pots in the greenhouse, but I imagine that they would have grown on in the house..