This is only my second summer of growing brugs. I have 5 now, but last summer I only had two that flowered: Charles Grimaldi and Peaches & Cream. They flowered very late in the summer, nearly fall. This year my CG has already been blooming, but I almost lost P&C to frost. It's coming back, though slowly.
My question is: does the flower form a visible pod, if pollinated? (Didn't have any last year.) I don't know what to look for for seeds. Other plants I've grown have very visible pods or seeds. What do I look for on the brugs? (I am assuming if I have seeds, I'll know it, but thought I'd get a heads up on what to look for.) Thanks!
Sanna
Brug seed "pod"?
Brugs, with few exceptions, don't self pollinate. So you would have to have two different varieties blooming at the same time. You could gather pollen from one variety, store it until your other Brugs bloom and hand pollinate. I've had moths do the pollinating for me. I've also had success hand pollinating. If it is successful, the seed pod starts to form at the base of the flower. You can feel the swollen ovary. You can either pull off the dead flower or just leave it. It will eventually fall off. Depending on the Brug variety, the shape of the seed pod will be slightly different and may take up to 4 - 6 months to mature.
In this photo, I've yanked the spent flower off. The calx is still green. You can see the small seed pod nested within the calx.
These are the mature seed pods fromAudrey Hepburn. She is a great producer of seed pods. Notice that the seed pod stem has yellowed. With other pods, the pod itself turns color first.
Ooooop! Pushed the wrong button. This is the photo I meant to use.
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to me! I was kind of hoping for some moth pollination, but now that I think about it, my two that flowered last summer were pretty far apart! And this summer I only have one blooming so far. But then, don't you get some weird crosses? Or does it just "work". I guess I should look this stuff up!
Again, thanks for your time ~ (Loving my CG this summer!)
Sanna
If you have more than 2 Brugs blooming at the same time, then you will only know who the pod parent is. If you live in the city with plenty of Brugs growing in the area, it may be possible for moths to travel from a neighbor's plant to yours to pollinate it, but again you would only know the pod parent. I live in an isolated area in the country so if two Brugs are blooming and I get seed pods, I can safely assume that the pollen donor was the other Brug.
The best way to be sure of the cross is to hand pollinate and tie off the entrance to the flower to keep bees, moths and hummingbirds out.
I've collected pollen using some simple tools: small clean pill bottle and a long pair of tweezers. After removing the anthers with the tweezers, I tap the anthers against the inside wall of the bottle to knock the pollen off.
I have seed pods!!! So, based on the information provided me (thank you again) it should be a Charles Grimaldi/Frosty Pink cross. The CG is so pretty this year ~ had some bad winds this last week and had some breakage, but not too bad.
Thanks again for the info.
Sanna
Excuse me for being a little dense but I need additional clarification with hand polinating. When u say if there are 2 brugs flowering and u can polinate one with the other did u mean 2 diff brugs or two flowers from the same plant???? Wouldnt using 2 diff plants mean an entirely diff third plant from the pod? Again apologies for not understanding the info.......
You have to use different plants. The seeds in the pod are a hybrid between the two parents. If you want a new plant identical to the parent, you need to take cuttings from the original.
"I Get It!!!" :) thanks
Bettydee;
You've mention that Audrey Heburn is a great seedpods producer. That roused my interest, for I've cuttings of the variety this summer. I'm new to growing brugs, and have looked up some info. on how to collect pollens and try to learn to pollinate to have seeds. A.H. brug. Does this still require to be hand cross pollinated as other hybrid? Is it a hybrid by itself? When you get a cutting from someone and it's a "Species white" does that mean it will selfpolinate?
Thanks.
Kim
Both Audrey Hepburn and B. Species white (renamed Alma) are hybrids. B arborea is the only species I know of that self pollinates. If you want to be sure of the crosses you make, you need to hand pollinate. If left up to the bees and moths with more than two Brugs blooming, you can only be sure of the pod parent. I hope this helps.
Veronica
Thanks Veronica, it does help very much. Also, since I've only one brug in bloom. If I collect the pollen. What's the proper storage method? Keep it in the bottle in the fridge? Or the freezer? I'd like to collect pollen from this one.
Kim
I collect pollen every day, some for later use, some to share with others. I pull the anthers using a hemastat (got from my Dr) and put them into little micro centrifuge(sp) tubes. I stand those up in a plastic box half filled with silica gel for 48 hours, then snap the caps shut and store in the fridge till needed. Many just use paper plates, put the anthers in a place to dry uncovered for a few days then store in either fridge or freezer. Many also just scrape pollen onto a piece of folded paper held under the flower, dry as above then store in little bags. I like the tubes, I buy them on ebay. Usually listed under daylily pollen tubes.
Sharing pollen is a good way to add variety to your garden. Brugs do not come true from seed, 10 seeds can produce 10 different flowers, which is part of the fun.
I have 52 seed pods in my garden right now, 38 from crosses I have made, several that my granddaughter made and a few with the help of the bees and moths.
Thanks Lady, wish me lucks, I'm going to try. :-)