leaning brug of pisa

I got this Sao Pablo(?) last spring at the Denver Botanic Garden sale. I potted it up in this pot, and pretty much neglected it last summer, except for water. It sat on my west facing, covered patio in the back shade(mostly). When I brought into the kitchen in late fall, it had a flower at the long, extended end. It then promptly lost all the leaves (I know, change of environment). My concern is the long, leaning extension. I noticed in most pics here, that there is usually a long, vertical main shoot. I'm not concerned with it being a little off kilter, but wish to groom it properly now, so as not to be a problem as it grows. Here's the first pic taken about 3 weeks ago.

Here is a pic taken today. I was wondering, should I cut it above the leaving extension? Can I root the part cut off? It seems a bit woody, and should I wait for it to get some leaves, or does that not really matter? You can see the leaf growth, and that leaning extension is nearly twice the size that it was last year. Thanks for any help in advance.

A straight vertical shoot usually emerges from under ground and grows straight until it forms a "Y". They are heavy feeders and need morning sunlight to bloom. You have very thin stems that may or may not root even if you include part of the woody stem. A few people have been able to root green shoots. I haven't. If I were you, I would concentrate on getting this little one to grow first cutting it.

Repot in a larger pot when you can place it outside. Meanwhile give it some fertilizer and place it where it can get more light or grow it under lights. When you can put it outside give it morning sunlight and bright shade the rest of the day. Feed it regularly. Your aim will be to get it into 15 to 25 gallon container, but don't over pot. Do this gradually. It will reward you with beautiful flushes of blooms and in time will produce new shoots coming from the underground stem. Allow this to grow straight up. You can even wait until it "Y"s. Cut that stem at ground level and root. Voíla! Instant standard.

bettydee, thanks for the response. Oh, and it's a Sao Paulo, not Pablo(that would be me). I may swing a 15 gal, but 25 is tough. I live in Denver zone 5, so this will eventually be going into the garage for winters, unless I get a really nice house with big windows or move out of state-LOL. And, it will have to do with bright shade all day, with maybe an hour or 2 of evening sun(house faces east/west-front/back). As for now, I started some flower and ground cover seeds under lights, so can put there for a few weeks until veg seeds take over, or should I just keep it in the kitchen with some indirect sunlight? In the pic, the limb with leaves was the minor branch last fall, having much smaller leaves than the longer trunk. The flower was also at the end of the longer trunk. I got this in a taller 4" pot, and transplanted it into this one. It's grown about 2-3" since last year, despite the neglect. I had to many projects going last year(garden, landscape, interior of house, plus work), but most are finished and I will be able to better tend to it. I've seen a bunch of great threads here, so will be refrencing those. Thanks, Paul.

Yes, the straight one you see, that is those with stems. You see, Brugmansia often grows a stem, before they form the flowering branches. But when a cutting from a flowering branch is rooted such as yours, there are often no, or only a very short stem. The flower brances are usually growing in diagonal directions and sometimes horisontal too. That is why it has that shape. I remember, when I grew a hybrid called L'Amour from a flower branch I tried to tie it to a pole to straighten it up. I managed to straightn a large piece, but later this year I forgot to continue tying it, so it continued to grow in a diagonal direction as nature bidded it to do.
Tonny