I just got back from visiting my parents in Oklahoma. There is a little garden center by their house out by the lake so of course I had to go see it! The owner wasn't there yesterday so her neighbor was watching the place for her. She was essentially useless in answering questions, but very nice! Anyway, I saw this HUGE plant in a container- probably 8 feet tall not including the container with thick roots coming up at the soil line. I didn't recognize it by the foliage, but my mom said "ooh, it has these weird 'pods' on it." So I looked and sure enough, it was brug flower buds! So I thought no way is one this big in Oklahoma, so I asked the lady in the store. She said "oh, I think she calls that angel something or other." So I asked if she meant angel's trumpet and she said yes! Then she told me that she (the lady who owns the place) had rooted another one off that plant and it was blooming. Over in a far corner she showed me a maybe 18 inch stem with 4 HUGE goldish orange blooms. Now I knew for sure it was a brug. Thing is, the blooming one had not "y'ed" yet. She must have thought I was a nut b/c I was digging the soil away from the base to see. It looks like she cut off a "y" then totally removed the stem from one half of it. Then she stuck the whole thing in this pot. By the way, she had it just in the side of another pot with another plant in it! The friend working the store told me the big one blooms all the time, she never repots it, and it used to be in a greenhouse but she moved it outside and it has been there for a couple of years. She said the leaves fall off and it just looks like a big dead tree all winter, but as soon as it warms up it is back. I didn't ask for a cutting b/c it isn't her plant, but my mom is going to hit up the owner for me. My parents know her well so I'm sure it will be ok. I just don't get it. Is this another example of someone not knowing any better making a plant do things it isn't supposed to? I mean, I get how she could grow it that big in a greenhouse, but she moved it to a covered outside area where it stays all year long. Maybe b/c it was already so big and established?! I was just stunned to see one in this part of the country at all, much less a huge one in a backwoods garden center! The owner does have a botany degree and is a master gardener so I would think she knows her stuff. Anyway, no one else in my life gets this fired up over such things so I thought I'd share it where it would be appreciated. Ha! :)
Jamie
Of all the times to NOT have a camera!
Great story Jamie! I'm an Okie....where is this place??? LOL I have some cuttings that bloomed before forming a Y. I'm sure it depends on where the cutting was taken. Let us know what you find out.
Hey Brinda- my parents live at Lake Texoma about 8 miles from Durant. Sooo, if you are in Durant, you just take Hwy 70 west and it's 8 miles past the Wal-Mart. Take a right at the Newberry Creek Resort sign and follow that road around... out of nowhere you will see a nursery on your left. I think the owner's name is Terrie. Sooo, if any of you oakies are ever out that way, there is a mega brug to drool over. Ha!
TG...aren't you in zone 8? I almost bet this brug is in 8 also. Or maybe some microclimate down there around the lake. I'd like to have a microclimate right here in my backyard. LOL
Yep. I'm 8a but I think this brug is in 7b (southwest OK?). I bet the microclimate thing is right. Even where she has it now, it's that black screen they use in outdoor garden centers where rain gets through but it's still sort of protected. You can feel a humidity increase just stepping from the front of the garden center that is not covered out into the back part with all the black screen. I still cannot believe how big it was- the roots near the base looked like tree roots. And the fact that a container grown brug got that big kind of surprised me. But I don't know a whole lot about them so maybe it isn't that uncommon.
I husband goes to Texoma Lake a lot to go fishing. The next time I get a invite to go with him, I am going. Then I will be able to check out this nursery. Thanks for the info. I printed off your directions and put it in my wallet so I will have it.
Linda
Linda- it's a biiiig lake so make sure y'all talk about what area he is going to fish on. :) Also, I'm sure y'all will hit it from a different direction than what I mentioned since I come up Hwy 75 from Dallas and go through Durant from that point. Just don't want you to get lost!