To buy or not to buy...and last year's brug is back!

Hi Brug lovers! I'm in Massachusetts and tried earnestly to overwinter my very first brug. Our winter was so oddly warm and loonnnng - that in January my Brug was still growing (in the unheated garage - we had a new kitten or I would have brought it into the house (she chews everything!). Then it suddenly became winter and my brug was gone. I thought it was a lost cause this spring - no buds, no signs of life (and this was a pretty big 4' tall, multi-stemmed brug). I brought it outside in May and watered it. Nothing. Then I took it out of the pot and noticed that some of the roots were still white, so I soaked it in a bucket. Well - it has tiny leaf buds now!!!! It was just labeled "white". So that is very exciting for me - not sure if I should fertilize it right now, or just let it be....

My other question: Should I buy a 2nd Brug that is for sale at our local nursery? It's HUGE - 3' tall, the biggest leaf is an astounding 12" long. The label on it simply says "Angel Trumpet, Yellow" and the others are pink. The brugs are covered with healthy, big leaves, but not one bud. The stalks are also straight up - no "Y"s. I thought I remembered from this forum from last year that the buds will only come above a "Y". Is that correct? These are priced at $29 each. Seems high, but they are the only ones I've seen locally for sale. I'm dying to have one again - big and full like these - my white one bloomed all summer long and was so fragrant. Would you buy it at that price? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

(The photos is from last year - this year only one of the stems survived, but I'm just delighted that something is growing - hopefully it'll get big quick)

Kara

And here's one of the many flowers from last year....can't wait to see them again!

Plants should grow and Y in summer heat from nursery. They sound healthy, if you have the money, buy a yellow and a pink one. Ebay has sold for much higher, sight unseen!

I would definitely pay $29 for a 3' tall healthy pink.. it will grow like a weed and most likely bloom well later in the summer.

Tammie

...I only wish I could find them here.. none, nowhere! Nada, nonexistant... nver heard of them! LOL

Same thing here, never see any in nurseries. They have no idea what they are!

No way.. not me! That is too much money for a no name brug... you add a couple of bucks to it and you can just about get 2 very healthy named varieties from www.seedsprout.com for that price!
They can grow that much in a very short time.... Not worth it to me...

Just my opinion....

If I were in your shoes I would buy at the nursery. It is well established plant . Last fall I bought quite a few from ebay,over a dozen varieties and only 3 lived so I am not going to buy from ebay again.We have a reputable nursery here and they also run $29.95. Fertilized your present brug and should do fine. Incidentally I have brugs maybe 10 varieties that are doing very well. I am into hostas with over 400 varieties. Happy gardenibg brug lovers!!! Bellie

This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 8:21 AM

NO BRUGS IN ODESSA??? $29 IS A LOT!!!
NEW VARIETIES ARE UNDERSTANDABLE
I WOULDN'T PAY THOUGH
BUY A SMALLER ONE THEY GROW SO FAST

I have never even seen a brug in person except for the little ones I am trying to grow. I have haunted the nurseries here for years looking for different types of plants.. they just don't carry anything.

Tammie

I am with ZZs. I have bought from this person on e-bay and they have been very healthy. They may take a little longer but you know what you have. Some brugs grow slower or just do not do well in certain parts of the country. Some have a lot of trouble with bugs and disease more then others.

If you do go on e-bay BE SURE to ask people you know that have done a lot of business with the e-bay person you are going to buy from.

Joan

Wondering about your garage - if you could create a greenhouse effect by using heavy plastic in a frame maybe 6x6, you could probably use a light bulb, or better, a small heater with a separate thermastat to overwinter. you could save all your $29 plants by cutting them back to the stem, placing the dug up plant and its root ball in a plastic garbage bag, and placing the cuttings in water with 1 TBL H202 per gal - changed every two weeks. The plants wouldn't need watering more often than that, either, til warm weather.
You would have lots of yellow, pink and white Brugs in 2008!

The plastic sheeting and heater with flourescent light in the garage is how I kept my hibiscus and palms alive over winter for 3 years. Now I have a potting shed to keep the hib in.. I crammed it full last winter.

Tammie

Pollygardening - Love your idea..my goal this summer is to create some sort of space to try and overwinter a few more brugs (that I get this summer!). Thanks!

And I would LOVE a potting shed - or (in my dreams) a greenhouse!

Kara

Hey - what are garages for, anyway?

We have a discount nursery here, that has several 'no-name' brugs for about $10, they are 'white' or 'pink and white' or 'yellow' decent sized 3-4 feet tall and very leafy and beautiful, i got a couple from there. Also I ordered one from almost eden http://www.almostedenplants.com/shopping/shopdisplayproducts.asp?Search=Yes

They have beautiful plants that arrive very healthy and quick and at a decent price to boot...
you could also check the trade list's here, I had one that kept pushing out pups and so i'd pull them off and it'd make another... now I'm trading them...