Best Heat Tolerant Brugmansia

Record heat started to hit south florida in May where we had 16 days of temps in the 90's. June has also been a continuous string of 90 degree days. With temps like this it's very hard for brugs to keep any buds that they set. I see a fiesta of bud dropping every day but it's what i expect this time of year. Then I look at Miss Emily Mckenzie and I'm totally in awe, She doesn't drop buds at all in hot weather. In fact she flushes as well in the heat as she does during the cooler weather. Here her blooms are a bit weather beaten because of recent rain storms but she is still holding up well considering. I even have a small cutting that has a bloom coming in that's bigger than the entire plant.
This is definitely a brug for those of you growing brugs in the hotter zones of the U.S.

another photo

Here is a small cutting that is producing a bloom as big as the plant!

Mem is a special brug. and one that does perform in hot, full sun conditions, in my Indiana garden. I watched mine bloom, large flushes, and rebloom in just a few weeks last year. She now commands my pride of place location in the garden. She's blooming away for you, Gary.

Tussee

That's good info to know - thank you, xeriscape!

Any others that do well in heat, also?

Gary, your photos are always a welcome sight! My new MEM went through a strange phase about two weeks after I received her and is just now coming out of it. I look forward to her blooming for me this summer. This summer will truly test her heat tolerance. It's been in the mid 90s to 100 since the second week in May.

SCNewbie, this link may be of help:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/797671/

Super! Thank you! :)))

Great thread X! MEM is definitely going on my list.

Are there others that perform so well in the heat?

Am curious, do any of you notice MEM is more frost sensitive, too?

edited for spelling :o}

This message was edited Jun 12, 2008 1:34 PM

azreno I would have to defer that question to others. The last real frost i can remember was back in the winter of 1990... :}

AZRENO go to the link that BETTYDEE has placed up there, it's fabulous for all the brugs that do well in the heat.

Oh, I remember that thread! So many more to pick from, I don't even have room for the ones I have sitting in pots right now lol, but it would be good to see some good flowering in summer if possible.

Thanks for both your replies!

X, great news that there is a brug that resists all of the hot baking sun and heat! Thanks for the info, Clemen

Bettydee,
My MEM has been blooming here for me in Austin and we are having the terrible heat wave, drought, storm laden season, as you well know. These brugs are all new to me this season - Flamenco, New Orleans Lady, and Kurpark Bad Salzchlifr and MEM is the only one that has bloomed for me so far. Know anything about these others and heat tolerance?
Annie

Gorgeous shots of a beauty!

Annie, New Orleans Lady and KBS are on the link I posted above. I bought New Orleans Lady late summer last year. She had a few blooms before I put her in my greenhouse for the winter. She survived some neglect during winter without a problem. Her heat resistance will definitely be tested this summer. I bought some KBS cuttings in the fall. They all rooted, never put out any growth and finally died during winter. So I don't have any personal experience with her. It was mention by several people so I woule imagine she will do fine.

I don't know anything about Flamenco other than what I found on the Brugmansia Registry. Her ancestry is not mentioned but from her looks and the Registry Breeding Set description, she is part B. suaveolens which supposedly love high heat.

Well, if these guys all love high heat, you would think we would be in blooming heaven, but no. Bettydee, thanks for looking up the information for me . I appreciate you taking the time to do that. These are all first year brugs and we are having such high heat early on that a lot of things are looking stressed that normally don't now so I guess I should have patience. The MEM was so pretty in bloom, though, it is hard to wait! BTW, after the MEM blooms and drops, how soon can you expect a repeat performance? Thanks,
Annie

I don't have any information for MEM specifically, but in general a healthy good sized plant with optimum growing conditions will produce a flush every 4 - 6 weeks. I know I'm hedging, but there are so many variables that influence blooming.

How long do the brugs usually hold their blooms before dropping them? I would say mine, once opened, held hers for about a week.

My KBS,Merrabeck,and Daydreams is holding up well in full sun for about 7 hours and full of leaves..I water them at nite time every other day...

Annie, how long they hold on to their flowers can vary within the same plant from flush to flush depending on weather, temperature, cultivation, etc so it's difficult specify a number, but a week is great.

Moodene, do you have your Brugs in the ground? I've had mine in pots, but have started to put a few in the ground. I have limited space that would give them afternoon shade. If I keep them in pots I can get more Brugs in the same amount of space. Some day, I hope to more space once we build a new home on the wooded side of the ranch, but that's been going on for 4 years now and all we have is electricity to the spot.

All of my brugs are in the ground here..I will take pics how mine look when I get home from work..

Here is KBS. She is a magnet for worms which I am always picking off...

Here is MEM with her bloom buds in full sun..still waiting for them to come on down and open!!

Here is DayDreams. Excuse the wire and grass. It seems Babebera likes to lay near this one so I had to put a wirecage around her...like I did to MEM..

Has anyone grown santa rosa,?? I just bought one & I want to cross it with Mountain Magic & cross it with Painted lady & little miss lili.
Jerry.

Those are beautiful shots of MEM Gary! This is my first year with her and she is magnificent!! You sure got good color on her.. She doesn't get that dark here.. but amazingly beautiful.
It's been in the 90's here and she is LOADED with buds that are holding.. I am jazzed.. she is gonna nearly touch the ground!
Thank you for sharing your photos and info Gary.

Aloha Roseman2, I have a Santa Rosa, and it's one of my favorites. It seems to do very well for me in our climate here in the Islands. It blooms with a lovely dark-ish rose color at all times of the year. I have not noticed any particular insect problem on it, other than the usual spider mite that I get on most of the brugs. The only drawback I have with it is that it grew to nine feet before Y-ing in part shade. I now have a cutting growing in full sun and it is doing well - I am hoping this one will stay a little shorter.