I won't be posting a bloom day this month; there's really nothing worth remarking upon. At this point in the summer, foliage is the name of the game and finding respite in the deep meditative greens of the shadelovers, liriopes, aspidistra and English ivy. One other joy is seeing my two tree-trained loquats finally getting their game on, five years after being transplanted as foot-tall babies into pots.
Another upcoming thrill is the first-time bloom of my brugmansia. In a dither over whether or not to put this plant in the ground (I've seen a big one on Scenic Drive), I googled brug care without much luck. Although there is some pretty bizarre brugmania going on at Dave's Garden, having to do with wintering-over techniques and complex machinations involving 50-gallon tubs and rubber tubing.
In more plant torture news, I fell in love with the tree-trained bougainvilleas at Shoal Creek Nursery(for $200 one can be yours) and came home and stripped my boug and bound it to a stake. In about five years, it should be fabulous.
8 comments:
I am going to report you to the plant-abusers hotline!
We have similar ideas, Libby - grew loquats in containers [after 5 years in a pot mine was planted in the ground] and we both grow brugmansias.
I planted my yellow Angel's Trumpet next to a SE facing wall but have no big techniques for overwintering - I throw old towels around it during cold snaps and don't care if it dies back pretty far. It's come through 3 winters this way, growing like a weed once the hot weather comes. My plant now has buds but they're not as far along as the ones on your very bouncy looking plant.
Some people hedge their bets by leaving the plant in the ground but taking a bunch of cuttings to root inside over winter....if the original plant dies, you have a replacement... if it lives, you have plants to give away or sell.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
My mothers Brug would over winter fine in Manchaca. It was a tree around ten feet tall. She gave me one to plant here west of Georgetown which promptly died the first winter. I thought this might help in making up your mind. Bob
I planted a brugmansia in one of my back beds last year, and it didn't come back this spring. Other than piling on some leaves, I didn't protect it from the cold. I'm thinking of trying one again, this time planting against the foundation of the house in a spot that's sheltered from the wind.
Thanks to all for brug suggestions. I'm thinking I'll keep it in the pot for now and transplant next spring. Seems like it would be cruel/suicidal to transplant during this heat.
Run under the sprinkler!
I have a brugmansia I'll have to move soon. The area it is in has rapidly filled in and it's buried. ( If you can imagine a brugmansia buried. )
Obviously it will fight it's way out soon. So I need to get back there before then.
I'm thinking if I shape to a tree form it might be kept under control.
I've read up on care and found it wants full sun but will handle some shade, don't prune it it will get bushy on it's own, and all you should need to do is protect the trunk if it goes below 20'F. Pipe insulation will work well.
Just before a predicted first frost (and I can't wait, let me tell you), I run out side and cut off all my brugs to the ground. Then I cut the stalks into 12 inch pieces and put them in buckets in my garage or laundry room. Change the water every once in a while, no special care, Moderate sunlight. Those things grow roots like crazy and leaf out. In the spring, I plant them again. The cuttings from above the Y formation tend to bloom right away. Not so much the cuttings from the lower half. But you never know. I usually pot up most of the cuttings in the spring and give them away. If they don't bloom the first year in a pot, they;ll bloom the second yer. I love brugs!
Post a Comment