Annie if we are laughing we are laughing with you NOT at you nor poking fun as we have all done and asked questions as Mitch and LouC say ...I know I am giggling as I have done the same thing you did with the thermometer....and as for the teenagers thinking you are nuts ..just wait their day is coming someday they will be doing it too or something close to it and then you can remind them of how they felt when you did that.
And LouC gonna have to look back in my dmail and see if I have your number so I can call Mike and tell him to hide it ...ROFL...not really but sounds good.
Brugs - do you grow them?
Lol - testing the soil can be fun - lots of fun. Back three years ago I started some 300 daylily seeds and waited untill the soil was perfect to plant - dragged the little guys in and out on the driveway each day waiting for the soil to be perfect... that is when people knew to come out and watch the show of me moving 300 little pots in and out with the weather.
Pure dedication.
Not what the wife said... I did learn that Daylily babies do not like Texas sumnmers... lost so many that summer with the heat here, the ones that made it I move to OK to my inlaws, if they made it here you know they got ot be worth keeping.
Mitch that would have been a sight to see ..I can just picture you doing that LOL...good thing I live in the country and none of the neighbors are out when I am to see me doing things LOL
right - that is a HUGE blessing the next house we buy maybe...... I would not change a thing - they might think I am nuts but they loved the flowers and we had several come visit just to see what was blooming today type thing.
So I have a question... if we get one of those brutal winters, what will happen to an in ground Brug? That is assuming it is well established and well mulched. For example one year, we saw a straight week of temps below freezing day and night. Would they survive in ground?
With mulch it will, or so I am told. I know anything is possible so just in case I almost always have a cutting in the house just in case. I have seen a few very old plants in Oak Cliff that lived 20 or more years here with very little care so I think once they are older they will make it fine. Those first few winters might be the trick.
so maybe for starters keep it in a pot for a few years to make sure it gets going good then put it out in a protected area for it's first winter (after taking a cutting for inside) mulch really good and see what happens??
Good idea - I always keep a cutting, but I tend to keep a lot of cuttings of almost everything I grow.
mmm cutting of everything he grows...wondering how do you keep cuttings of the lil ones ...*giggles*...yes I'm joking
just popped into my head and had to ask LMAO
Lol - thankfully I have not taken cuttings of them yet, but I have taught them to take cuttings too...
LOL good deal then
A few comments about Brugs surviving in the ground: It depends on a few factors. Some named Brugmansias are hardier than others. Some are even iffy in zone 8b or 9a. Look up the named Brug in the PlantFiles and see where it is known to grow. If it is a really valuable one, I would leave it in a pot or dig it up for the winter. It is difficult to predict with a NOID since its ancestry is not known. A small plant is not as root hardy as a large established one. Its health also has a baring on how cold tolerant its roots are.
The only worry I have about using a kitchen thermometer is that it may not be long enough. The temperatures, and there should be several samples taken within a 25 cm radius and averaged, have to be taken at root depth — 8 - 12".
Podster, many Brug growers in the normally mild areas of California lost large numbers of Brugs to a prolonged and unseasonably cold front last year. That is why keeping back up cuttings is so important.
My thermometer was nowhere near that long. Maybe 6 inches and with my rocky soil, it didn't go all the way down. Does the temperature usually get colder as you get deeper, though? I would think that if I was at 59 at say 4", it would be warmer deeper. ??? What type of thermometer is 12" long? And can you hammer it into the ground in my rocky part of the world??LOL
Bettydee ~ mine are plain old NOIDs. I do love them and had thought about planting in ground. They have been rootbound too long and the pots are too large for me to move easily. I now have a more sheltered spot so think I will do so. You may have to teach me how to take cuttings next. Thank you, pod
I have never taken a temp at more then 6 inches, never had a problem with it myself but 8 inches might give a warmer reading not sure.
On the whole you find the Brugs with roots in Europe will take more cold then the brugs breed here in the US. Here in 8a I have not found one yet that with mulch would not come back - but I am smart where I plant them and take the time to mulch them really well.
Mitch scared the dickens out of me early this Fall when he brough a full grown Brug to my house and proceeded to cut it into 12 pieces. It is now in a huge potting bowl in the makeshift greenhouse and all but one is thriving.
I tend to hack them to little hunks when I get them ready for cuttings... it did not scare you too long right?
*giggles* makes me think of his post earlier about taking cuttings of everything he grows.... could be a scary sight seeing him cutting things up
Mibus, where do you get Pine needles?
I do just hack away... smaller pieces get you more plants right?
So far, so good. Still have a lot of freezing night ahead.
Sylvia...... from my yard
We have several pine trees in the front by the road and there is a nice lil group out back with some big ones scattered around....Did ya need some? I can get a trash bag full and bring to ya in Waxahachie in April
I have one brug, but I can't remember the name. I was told it was one of those with a really good scent, one of the strongest. But I can't smell it at all. Are there some that don't smell? Or maybe I'm just not fertilizing it right?
I think they all smell some - just some more then others. I know all the ones I have smell something.
I think I'll try to get one at the RU that I can smell.:)
As far as smelling the brugs, I think they mostly release their fragrances at night. If you smell in the daytime and get nothing, sniff again in the evening and maybe you will be pleasantly surprised.
Confessions of plant abuse:
The first brug I got was the flamenco. It came as a 6" rooted plant. I put it in a pot in a dappled shaded yard. I got rather busy and forgot it and left it outside for it's first winter. I figured it was a goner. Springtime brought it right out again after a pretty hard winter. It has suffered through two more winter's in the same way and last spring is the first time I really had time to tend it. (I hardly even remembered to water it the other two springs.) It flowered and grew to 8' tall for me after all the previous seasons of neglect.
I brought it inside this year and it has even flowered inside for me. The nighttime fragrance inside the house is intoxicating. I has leaves as large as footballs.
I took cuttings and just stuck them in the pot with the mother plant and they have roooted for me.
I don't know if any of the other ones are that tough, but I can vouge for Flamenco's ability to survive, droughts, freezes and total neglect of every kind.
Charlene
Hmmm. What color is it Charlene? I hope it's not orange, that's the only color I don't care for.:)
BTW what zone are you in?
wonderful - if you want to trade cuttings LMK would love a one of those.
Sure Mitch, I am sure I can find something in your stash to swap for a nice rooted plant from my Flemenco.
Silverfluter it is the the photo above and it is not orange. Outside it is sort of peachy-pink to cream. It comes on yellow and then turns. Inside it is more of a deep pink to cream, it comes on white before turning. I had no idea the light and temp would affect the color so much, but it certainly does so. I am sure we can trade something for a nice rooted plant.
Charlene
mmmm* starts looking around for something I can use to swap for a brug start* LOL
Phyllis, if my cuttings live, be glad to share. have no idea what color it is. It's the one Mitch slashed into a dozen pieces when he brought it here. Need to check on them today. It was so windy yesterday I couldn't get the door open to the barn/greenhouse.
Charlene, that sounds like a plant I just can't live without.lol What would you like in return? I need to add some more things to my list. Is there anything is particular you're looking for?
If you are not lucky enough to get cuttings, where do you find these cultivars? I have been checking Logees, Annie' s Annuals, etc.. and I am not finding some of the ones that Betty came up with on her list of brugs that are good for Texas. (Over in the Brugs forum, a complete list of "favorite brugs" and where they grow).
Wait - from time to time they will post over in the Burg forum, or in the Texas fourm that someone has cuttings and you ask fast... Dont buy on ebay if you can help it... a lot of those folks are on here and will trade with you or are crooking that sell the same brug with several names.
Mitch, do you have a nice started Emily? I would love to trade for that one.
Silverfluter, I am in the same zone as you; 8a.
I have been hunting a Tropicanna Rose bush. Wal-mart has some roses that look great, but the only Tropicanna they have is a climber. I just want the regular kind. If your Wal-mart has one, I would pay for the rose and give you a brug for your trouble in finding it. I don't want to pay more than $5 or $6 for it. That is the Wal-mart price. I actually like their roses better than the ones I bought at Chamblees. Chamblees will put three rooted cuttings in a pot and make the untrained person think it has three canes. I know because I bought a bunch of them and was very disappointed. Wallyworlds roses actually have three nice thick canes.
Charlene
I sure dont - I just have the cutting that I bought of the Daves add of that one, she is a fast grower so for sure by fall I can send you one no problem, just remind me - no trade needed :-)
Anniejo, I can bring you a trade of Flamenco brug to the RU I have one left that is well rooted and growing.
I am growing it in zone 8a and it is a tough little buger!
I am looking for a John Kennedy or Marilyn Monroe rose bush. They have roses at Wallyworld for $5-6. I don't want to pay more than that. I will pay for the rose and give you a nice plant for your trouble.
Charlene
Charlene, I have a rooted cutting of a Zepherine Drouhin thornless climber that has a Bourbon scent to trade, are you interested?
Roxanne