Brugmansia
Forum Archives
Red Hare
Location: Oregon coast
Posted: Mar-25-2005 at 1:55pm
My gardening buddy and I made a pilgrimage to Heronswood last week (our first visit!) and I brought home, among other delights, a double white brugmansia. The Heronista recommended I keep it inside for awhile, so it and an aeonium 'Zwartkop' are sunning themselves in my dining room window. However, I'm not sure when I can bring it outside. In May - about the time I set out tomatoes? I plan to keep it in a pot so I can bring it back inside before frost.
I'm wondering if anyone else is growing this beauty, and what your experience has been. Do you bring it inside in the fall, or mulch it or cover it? If you bring it in, do you give it lots of light and warmth, or put it in a cool corner and let it go dormant?
Just today, I got to see a picture of this variety, at the Plant Delights website, and I think I'm in love.
Fern
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Mar-25-2005 at 7:59pm
I got my first one last year and I'm going to get more because the flowers are breath taking and fragrant too. I heard they might be hardy with a good mulch in the winter but I also know that slugs love to eat them and I think the young sprouts would be in grave danger. I brought mine inside for the winter, watered less, and let it go mostly dormant, it lost almost all its leaves but it is now starting to grow again. I don't have good light in the winter, who does in the Northwest unless they use grow lights! It can't take frost but doesn't seem to mind cool tempatures so I think it might be a good plant for the Northwest. It uses alot of water and feeding in the summer. I hear it's very easy to start from cuttings so that is giving me ideas...
Fern
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Mar-26-2005 at 9:38am
You can bring it outside on days where the temps are in the upper 40s and higher. Bring it in in the evenings. It will be pretty much acclimated for outdoors. When the evening temps are milder then you can start leaving it outdoors. I do this a lot with my greenhouse plants during the month of April. I like to call it the Greenhouse shuffle. Gets really interesting when I have 50 flats going in and out of the greenhouse.
Sydnie
Location: Western Washington
Posted: Mar-28-2005 at 12:42pm
Red Hare- You will love, love, love it even more later!!!
Last year I grew one for the first time. This is what worked for me. It likes to be fed, I used fish fertilizer. It also likes lots of water- at least it did in this pot. And they are also REALLY POISONOUS, everypart of them. (just in case you didn't know that)
For winter the big one was cut off at about 8 inches, starts put in clay (works for me, I guess we just have the perfect stuff- LOL) And my girlfriend gave me a bunch of other starts,too. These I kept in the greenhouse this winter. (But... Next year I think I will do the house or garage. We had a mild winter here this year. With your zone you should have no problem wintering them!) I thought they were all dead. Most of the stems were rotten. But !!!! I have plants just coming up from the dead stems. This came about when I put a light in the greenhouse for seedlings. (Whew ! I thought they were goners) My big one, 2 I started from cuttings, and 3 of the given to me plants. I am thrilled !!! It was a show from August to October last year!!! (Look at the picture of mine below)
The only thing I may do different this year is try putting some in the ground in buckets with holes- and then come fall you dig them up- cut them back- roots and the top, winter, and replant in the spring. Sounds like a good idea anyway.
**I do the greenhouse shuffle too Debbie, LOL.
If slugs eat them- I think it would kill them? It may be a good thing to plant with slug loving plants. LOL.
I no longer have a problem with mice in my greenhouse, they seemed to go away once they gnawed on two of the brug stems. I did not actually see them, but last year we caught like 30 mice before we just gave up! And this year there are none eating my baby plants. The only bugs I've seen on them were crab spiders, which doesn't actually eat them. There were bugs that ate on the leaves. I assume that it didn't kill them- either that or I had a lot of them. I AM WONDERING if anyone knows if they hurt frogs, or anything else??? Bees and hummers I seen just stayed away? Any other observations???
This is a picture of mine with 40 blooms !!!!!!
Yes mamn I said 40 ! Good luck with yours! Maybe a trade could come about if you can make more??? The doubles are awesome! I still have to wait to see what my others are.......
Brugmansia (Angels Trumpet)
There are some great Brugmansia sites for information. If you don't find them googling- reply here-and I will get two sites from my girlfriend for you. I tend to be so windy, LOL, sorry about that.
Sydnie
Location: Western Washington
Posted: Mar-28-2005 at 1:26pm
ok I found something about pests. Doesn't kill wildlife apparently. Maybe they are just poisonous to us. I liked the idea they killed off the mice. Maybe we just have none. LOL.
As brugmansia are members of the same family as tomatos, potatos and eggplant they are subject to the same pests and diseases. Watch for things like tomato hornworm or other species of caterpillars as these little beasties love to feed on brug leaves.They can be removed by hand picking. Spider mites are another pest often seen on the underside of leaves or occasionally in the growing tip. A fifty-fifty mixture of alcohol and water will take care of these.
Oh lots of brug sites. I think I'd better get to my housework now. LOL.
---aka Cindy
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Mar-28-2005 at 1:43pm
Well Red Hare, I never! hrumph and you didn't even wave to me when you went by.
I used to put my brugs in the greenhouse, and although it stays above freezing it still looses its leaves. The biggest problem with them is getting the big guys in and out of there. This year I left them out under the deck cover so I am not sure if they survived.
I was drooling over their pic in Plants Delight catalog, they are absolutely lovely. Great choice.
But then I am not talking to you as you didn't wave to me when you came to my town!
Sydnie, yes the greenhouse shuffle is best done to a little music while you shuffle.
Red Hare
Location: Oregon coast
Posted: Apr-01-2005 at 11:29am
Debbie, next time I promise to message you and come by and meet you and your garden. Maybe pick you up on the way!
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton