Good morning to all. I am new to this site, and have been growing brugs for a few years now. But I am just now getting into the real excitement of growing these beautiful and unpredictable plants. Back in 1993 my sister, who lives in New Orleans, gave me a cutting when I moved here to Tennessee. I stuck it in the garden and never gave it a second thought. But when it grew so beautiful each year and people began to actually stop by my house to ask what it was and if they could have a piece, I began to get more interested and did some research. In the past couple of years, I've added to my collection and now have 2 yellows, 3 pinks and 2 whites. I have no idea what their names are, just that they are the most fascinating flowers I have ever grown and they smell so wonderful. A couple I grew from seeds I had ordered over the internet, a couple are cuttings I grew myself. I am now getting into trying to pollinate them myself. I found a seed pod the other day and almost fainted.
I have several in the garden and about 3 in pots that I'll take inside to winter-over. Maybe next spring I'll put them in the garden, but right now, I'm trying to plan for some different colors. I'm having so much fun reading the posts on this site. I just happened to find it while surfing for more information on my plants.
All of my brugs are doing well, except for one that has grown huge but I have not had one bloom on it. And the leaves seem to be malformed, like curled into themselves. If anyone could offer some advice, I'll include a picture with my next post.
Thanks for some great information already. I know I'll learn lots from all the experts.
Brug hello
Hi bammie, WELCOME to DG! Lots of fun and education here! Don't you just Love Brugs! The malformed leaves.... read this post, should help..
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/644018/
Welcome to the Brug forum. The thread Aunt B pointed out shows all the possibilities. Scroll down to the ones that show leaves like yours.
If you stick with brugs long enough you'll get all the highs and lows. A big flush is a real high. A bout with mites, a nasty low. Half of us say we're going to ditch it all, and then end up spending all our time and most of our money saving them. LOL
There's some very nice people here that you'll enjoy talking to. Jump in often, the water is fine.
Mary
Aunt B and mpabbott1, thanks for the replies. I didn't see any pictures on that thread that look like my plant. I'll put a picture that I took this morning and maybe someone can give me some clues. All the rest of my brugs are doing fine. I have an abundance of leaves. Some of the pictures I've seen don't have lots of leaves toward the bottom of the plant. Are they picked off, fall off, are is it because they are left in the ground from year to year.
I have been cutting them to the ground, mulching heavily and letting them grow back each year. I've never had a problem with that. If I leave the whole plant sticking out of the ground, the barks get mushy and soft in the freezing weather, and I fear that the roots will freeze and die. Any good advice?
It looks like pictures I've seen of the dreaded Broad Mites, but hopefully someone will come along with more experience than I.
Sorry, I'm still going through the school of hard knocks for brug knowledge and have much to learn. If you have these wonderful/horrible plants long enough you'll experience all the hard knocks. LOL
The way you're going about wintering sounds right and the only way to go for your climate unless you can bring them in or put them in a greenhouse.
Mary
Thanks Mary. I am just so baffled over this one plant. All the others are beautiful and bloom profusely. I noticed yesterday that the new leaves on top of the plant are coming in nice and straight. Not curled. And none of the leaves are eaten or withered or shriveled in any way. They just all curl into themselves. It's a totally different looking bush. I grew it from seed so no telling what it is. I forgot to mark the seeds I had growing, thinking none would germinate.
This is a picture of one of my best bloomers.
Have a great day,
Bonnie
that Brug is really nice if you ever get any cuttings and want to trade let me know thanks Paul
Bonnie, I still think the curling/puckering is broad mite. Keep it away from the others till your sure it's okay. Sounds like you winter them fine, unless you want to bring them inside or into a gh. I sometimes keep the new growth stripped from the trunks if I want more of a tree look and I want all growing to be going on on top of the plant. It's personal preference. Here's a versi I keep the trunks "clean" on.
I let Maya grow a couple new "limbs" and get bushy, I want to try rooting...
Paul, I’m always setting up cuttings for friends, so the next time I have some rooted, I'll most definitely be interested in trading. I'll let you know. The brug I have pictured has huge flowers. Much bigger than my others. It buds white, changes to cream and then finally is the pink you see at full bloom. And the smell fills the night air with a heavenly perfume. I have it growing near some moonflowers and they compete for the best fragrance. I have no earthly idea of the name. That's the one I got as cutting from my sister down south. She got hers from a cutting she took off a plant she happened to see growing somewhere.
AuntB, yours are beautiful. I think next year I'll try stripping the leaves from the bottom and seeing if I can make mine look more like trees. They get so heavy with leaves, I can't see the flowers well enough. Also, the ones I have planted in the ground get 10 to 15 feet high in one growing season. I have 3 in pots and I'll keep them there so I can get the look that you have on your Maya.
This one has smaller flowers and doesn't smell as strong. But still puts on a beautiful show. It has 6 points.
Welcome to the Brug forum & major addiction!
There are very many helpful people here & I'm sure by the time cutting season is over you will have many other colors of Brugs!
The tree looking one is called a Standard & can be made easily by cutting one of your longer branches, rooting it & letting it grow into a tree form. I have many Standards & most don't grow much foilage below the "Y". So I don't usually have to strip my leaves. Also a "sport" a sprout from the root section that grows fast & straight makes a good Standard too, straight & strong.
This is a pic Whiskers Cross from last year, it's about 9ft tall here.
Bj
Thanks so much Bj. That's 2 new things I've learned from your post. A couple of my brugs have sprouts from the root section and I was wondering if that was a good thing or if I should cut them off when they grow. Now I know what to do with them. I love the look of your Whiskers Cross. I'll certainly try that next year. It's already starting to turn cooler here in East Tennessee, but some years that's just a teaser and the warm weather will return. I don't want it to be cold yet because I have my first seed pods on 1 of my pinks. I'd like to see them through to harvest.
My next step in this learning process for me will be to try and start acquiring brugs that I actually know the name.
If I can make it through the seed collection step, what do I do with the seeds? Can I keep them until next year? Can they last more than one year? Is there a storage system that’s best? Can anybody give me some tips on seeds?
Thanks in advance.
Bj,
I learned alot from your post. Thank you very much.
Erick