what does it need?

I don't know what kind it is. All I know is that it is a brug and it either starts out yellow and turns pink or visa versa. I didn't even know what I had until I found this WONDERFUL website! Strong wind came along and broke the top out. All I've done is keep it watered and fertilized it twice. I do have some messenger coming. Can I use that on it? It is in a pot. Another thing I would like to know. I have read some of the forums where people cut them back for the winter. Did I read that correctly? How in the world do they end up getting so large if they are cut back each year. When do I do this? Thanks in advance for any info.
Dawn

Dawn


that may just be yellowing naturally but may be too much water.
also make sure it is well drained. i always take the bottom saucers of my pots. they dont like soggy feet.

yes you can use messenger( sprayed on foliage every 2-3 weeks on it and use miracle grow twice a week is what most do.

around here and in Va it gets cold and it will die down naturally every year. you take cuttings just in case it doesnt come back. most people start taking cuttings during the fall. the leaves fall off and starts to look brownish . just cut back to the ground leaving about an inch on each stalk and mulch well.

if in a pot it will also die back unless you take it in the house. then in a sunny window for the cold season and out of drafts and it will stay green and may bloom for you too.


i actually put a few in the garage ( closed door and they popped right back this season) . they do get bigger every year.

my hubby just whacked one in the ground 3 weeks ago and its already coming back just as strong.

i am no expert as ther are many here who know alot more then me but i offer what i know.
Marie

Hi Dawn,

I used to live in your neck of the woods .. love that clayey soil! lol. By all means stick it in the ground. Just dig a hole no less than 2 times (better 3 times) the size of the pot its in and fill up the hole with a good potting soil or better yet a peat base mix like ProMix so it can grow good strong healthy roots it will need for next year before it hits that wonderful barren clayey soil of Virginia.

Mine die back every year and come up bigger and stronger. The pictures below were taken this year .. the one on the left in early April and the one on the right last week.

After your your first hard freeze, cut them back or leave the skeletons (i leave the skeletons til March) and throw some mulch on the base.

X

Forgot the pic.

How soon do they bloom in the summer if you leave them in the ground over the winter?

WOW what good advice you have gotten Dawn. I might add if you are thinking of digging it up in the fall, you might want to plant it in its pot. It makes it easier to dig up.

Gee X, you are so hard working. My plants are lucky to get a hole big enough for their existing roots. Most times I am too lazy so I cut the roots down to fit a small hole. LOL. And I would never be so energetic as to amend the soil in the hole. Once or twice a year I toss steer manure over my beds and leave it at that. I know, I am a sad gardener. LOL Thank God, I am cute so they grow anyway.

PS Dawn, have you seen it bloom yet or is that your first bud on there?

Thanks for the info imzadi.

X - Yeah you must have been from around here to have such a high regard for our wonderful soil! Your are just beautiful. Do you have yours in all day sun? Just about everyhwere I have your either can get morning sun (5-1), all day sun (sun up to sun down) or underneath trees that would get dappled sun. I would love to put it out by our pool. This area has rocks and gets rather warm with no shade. I think that would be too extreme for it.

Kell, It bloomed for me last year. When I bought it, it was supposed to be purple and white. The blooms are pink (long bells). I have learned from DG that what I ordered sounded like a Datura and what I ended up with is brug. Either way, I love it. It is in a large pot. I would like to put it in the ground but it would be in a place where I wouldn't see it regularly unless I did my walk about. I am trying for the tropical look around the pool. I dont think this would stand the heat I'm thinking.
When it blooms this year I will take a pic of it. I was not into taking pics of my plants that much until I found DG. Now, I have pics of everything.

That is just like me Dawn! I had gotten a digital camera Christmas present, 2 years before I joined Dave's but had not even opened the box. Once here, I started taking pics and have not stopped. I love it. I am going to take a course this year to learn how to take good shots.

Well, if you leave it in a pot, you can try the pool area and then move it if it declines. Do you have an umbrella out there? Maybe it could be partially under that? I find the bigger the pot, the bigger the brug gets.

I know what you meant Kell, I've got to learn how to take pics from the camera and download straight to a disc instead of all on the puter. I have taken so many. I have it partially under a large ficus tree and it seems to be pretty happy there. It gets shaded in the hottest hours of the day. If I go to a larger pot I won't be able to move the thing. Thank God there is plastic pots! (lighter)

I bought the best little cart thingie. I will have to take its picture when it gets lighter outside. In fact I just used it yesterday when I was madly dragging a plumeria out of my car before my husband came home. I stuck it in my little cart and off I dashed to hide it in the back yard. In the old days I would have had to wait for Tom to come home to bring it out back and what good is that if you are a sneak?

Dawn, mine have just started blooming .. they will continue on til the first freeze here. Brugs prefer morning sun and afternoon shade. The bulk of mine get that. Brugs can take blazing hot sun. They will start to wilt in the middle of the day and look pathetic for a few hours, but usually by 3pm they start to look better and by late afternoon, you'd never know they had wilted. Just make sure you water them in the morning if it's going to be a scorcher. The wilting is a survival mechanism. You may have noticed a lot of plants do this. The wilting is caused by the water in the leaves & stems being shunted back down to the roots. As you know, water expands with heat. If they didn't do this then the cells would explode. You could try putting them by your pool, but I'd certainly remove the rocks around them and put down a nice thick mulch at the base. Do what Kell said and plant it pot and all and see what happens. I'm afraid the rocks would heat the soil too much.

My first ones opened yesterday.

X

Thanks X, If I recall correctly that is what mine looks like. Will deffinately get a pic this time.
Kell, you're a sneaker too? :) It is pure will power not to go the garden centers and just look. That is plumeria? I need to read up on those. Looks neat.

I am a sneak but I am a pathetic one. I sneak it in but I charged it to his visa so he will know the worst. LOL. I may be dead soon.

I have been gathering plumeria for awhile now. I acquired the taste from Clare. Her love of them is contagious.

Kell I've had a plumeria for going on 2 years now .. never has bloomed, but puts out some nice shiny leaves! Maybe this year!

Plumeria is a tropical plant that makes beautiful flowers .. I think they use the flower in Hawaii to make leis.