Brugmansia in Winter

The gorgeous ballerina skirts of summer are gone. The huge leaves that remain are black, tattered and hang limp.

I know that my PNW friends Alison and Peter cleverly took their Brugs under glass before frost. Hopeful of a return from roots, mine remain in the ground.

January 26, 2013: Brug cuttings in GH.

By end of March, 2013 there was a bud on one cutting. I tend to forget some thrills until I look at old posts.

Meanwhile, looking at this year's dead plants from a different perspective:

Among evergreens, they have an almost sculptural quality. Later I'll cut them to ground to wait for new growth.

Maybe next fall I'll find room for a cutting or two in a gallon nursery pot again.

Deciding between tomatoes and full sized brug plants is a no-brainer. Food wins.

Summer memories; anticipation for 2015.

Brugmansias just Get Better and Better

I decided this one is so big and lush because it is in a southwest-facing corner and was more protected than the the others.

The light was different when I faced a different direction. 

More buds open each night.

These two away from the house are slower to get going.

The Brugs out in the Upper Garden are all short and slow to bloom. 

I noticed two blooms on Duranta today. One of the plants has tiny stunted leaves and needs to be cut back and allowed to recover from whatever stunted it. Two of the cuttings I took have rooted, 2 of 3 isn't bad. I would like to have them blooming indoors this winter and put them out for an early start in the spring. 

White Lantana rooted; 75% of the cuttings that I took. Earlier cuttings that I planted out have not grown much nor started to bloom. 

I was wondering what I could plant with Gulf Muhly Grass to bloom with it in the fall, something that looks better with pink Muhly than the Tithonia that clashed so beautifully last year. A clump of lavender Lantana crawled over to the Muhly from where it grew last year in the center of the bed. All the center died out and this one big piece just cozied up with the Muhly Grass. I didn't make a pic. 

There are some huge Graptopetalums in the Greenhouse. I need to think of a good use for their pretty rosettes, the only succulent that I grow except for Burro's Tail Sedum. Oh, and Kalanchoe. There is an abundance of them, also easily rooted.

I'm already thinking about where everything will fit this winter. I put a rooted Tomato sucker in a large nursery pot. It grew straight up. It takes a full gallon of water to water it. Many of the tiny rooted pieces may have to bunk in together in a single pot. 

Ike the Cat ate one of my greenhouse lizards today. Ike is kind of vicious sometimes.   

Blooms in the Night

Joining Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday, even though I do well to water, much less fertilize. Big show of Epiphyllum oxypetalum on the night before 9/11/2013. I missed 3 blooms in the greenhouse the night prior. These are outside on an improvised bench with pots of Amaryllis bulbs on their sides drying off.

The word for flowers that bloom in the night is Vespertine.

Some people plan parties around the opening of Epiphyllum blooms.

Blossoms open by about 10 pm and are limp and spent next morning.

I tried to give them a jungle setting for summer. They are among

Gardenias and Mock Orange under a Red Cedar and Sassafras.

That's as near to a jungle as I could provide.

The heavy stems use an old iron headboard as support.

Before frost comes, these 2 plants will need pruning and I have to figure a way to stuff them into the greenhouse with 3 others. It doesn't seem to matter where they grow, they will bloom. 

There is one last bud in the greenhouse and one outside yet to bloom. 

The last blooms usually come in October.

I couldn't get all the blooms into one picture. You can count 8 here,

some are hidden among the shrubbery. Epis put out long canes and

blooms grow off the big flat 'leaves.' The plants are as awkward as

the blossoms are beautiful.

A small Brug plant with two trunks. I rooted several last winter, gave

away some. All but one in too much shade have bloomed.

There's a young plant in the near view in front of the big plant which is more

than six feet tall. They die back to roots here at frost but come back to 

full size the next year.

During the day, the blooms droop but open their skirts wide when night comes. 

Unlike the Epiphyllums, Brugmansia blooms last 

for more than one night, depending on weather conditions.

Brugmansias do grow from seeds and there are growers who hybridize.

I've never seen seeds because I cut off spent blooms to keep more coming.

I spread rooted cuttings around the upper garden like marmalade.

They begin opening in late afternoon .

I wish you could experience the fragrance of both. 

Brugs are light and sweet, Epis are spicy sweet to attract pollinators. 

My Secret Jungle Garden Is No Secret Anymore

When the weather got warm, I improvised an old 2x8 board into a bench for Epiphyllums with a rusty iron bed headboard for the long awkward stems to lean on.

The Jungle Cacti like a little shade that makes them feel as if they are in tree tops, so they were behind a Philadelphus and a Gardenia just north of the greenhouse. Other shrubbery forms a little hallway so it is like going into a secret garden, but just the tiniest bit dim and out of the way after dark.

I knew they were about to bloom any night now. Last night I forgot to check on them before dark. As it gets late you can tell when a bud is about to open. When I got back from Church and Town I forgot to go out there with a flashlight. Sure enough, when I thought to look around noon, two flowers were limp, their night of glory over.

Other buds are nearly ready, this one hanging over 

its support and I might have missed it too. 

I moved the pots with buds near the side door, on

the carport ledge. The ugliest stems have the

prettiest buds.

This bud is from the faux terra cotta pot -- sounds 

more elegant than styrofoam, yes? It hangs over into

a Gardenia bush here too.

I had to use a hand truck to move the ceramic pot.

See it just at the right? The pot tended to roll, but I 

got it moved without crushing the buds. 

Spent bloom next to the pot.

It will be a fragrant night with Brugmansia blooms

nearby.

Their new location will have more sun, the leaves may fade but they will

likely have more blooms with more light. There are a few tiny buds already 

formed. I expect more to follow. 

Three younger pots have no buds yet so I left them on the Secret Bench.

If a long stem or even a leaf breaks, I usually stick it in some soil to root. 

2012

Every year I post about Epiphyllum oxypetalum as if it were a new plant.

The scent is heavy and spicy, unlike the sweet fragrance of the Brugmansias.

Everybody Back Inside! 3 more Cold Nights Ahead

Just when I thought the worst was over -- and of course my worst weather is nothing compared to yours -- all the tropicals are back inside until the temperatures stop hovering around freezing in the early morning hours.


Persian Shield can tolerate some cold, but not a freeze. Purple Heart left in the ground has already put out new growth. These have never left the greenhouse.

Pentas in all colors have enjoyed some days in the sun, only to com back inside.

 

 

 

Grapevine balls with succulents, epis and graptopetalum must wait for near-tropical nights to go out under shade.



Just this afternoon I discovered a bud on one of the Angel Trumpet cuttings! I've covered new growth that had put out on those Brugmansias that spent the winter killed back to the roots.

Every spring we teeter between warmth and freezes. Two days ago we were deciding what to do about the new crop of mosquitos.

I brought the electric heaters back to the greenhouse and plugged them in.

When is Spring? My Plants Are Ready

We are expecting 33º tomorrow night. I hope that is the end of near-freezing temps. My plants are ready, starting to stretch.

I've never had too many Pentas: pink, rose, red, white, lavender.

Butterfly magnets, little care except deadheading.

 

 

'Ruby' is the Pentas I've planted longest. I start some Pentas

cuttings  in August. Just before Christmas I picked a bouquet

of red and white Pentas. Toward the end of February,

I cut off the ends of the stems and stuck them to root.

 

White Pentas in yellow pots, kind of scrawny next to

Brugmansia cuttings.

 

Yesterday I saw a very frost-bitten Persian Shield plant in the garden

that managed a puny bloom, first I've ever seen outside the greenhouse.

These Strobilanthes dyeranus cuttings are ready to go outside and

get some size on them, the blooms were just a winter bonus.

 

Leggy Salvia elegans and Fern ready to summer outside.

 

Lots of plans for Begonias in shade. On the end there's a Gerbera Daisy seedling with a bud anticipating growing in the ground. Tomatoes would prefer outside air as well.

 

Tomatoes in containers are possible all winter. I had to

prove that to myself.

 

Plants that sometimes don't make the winter outside: Pentas, Porterweed, Brugmansia, Esperanza and others fared very well this year. Tiny sprouts are emerging from roots at the base of many dead stems.

 

Two of my Durantas in the ground stayed green all winter. They did stop blooming after Christmas. The gingers, except for Curcuma, did not die all the way to the ground the way they usually do.

 

It will be another while before we know how Pride of Barbados fared. They usually wait until I've despaired of ever seeing a Caesalpinia again and then Surprise! We are not yet safe from a final killing frost, but things are looking up. How many days to Spring?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come Look for a Blossom

We are having mild days here while much of the country suffers ice and snow. February freezes are inevitable. Cold wind will blow in from the North soon while we are enjoying what feels like spring.

During the day, a ventilating fan keeps the temperature tolerable for plants.

Cool season veggies just hang out on Ike's porch.

Tomatoes are growing toward the back. We need to look more closely.

I love my patchwork pattern in the center floor. Found it in the New

York Times; it was a driveway there. Urban stone, sideways brick and

river stones in the seams. I've started dropping blue glass gems in the cracks.

 

Forced hyacinths. The pots with three bulbs hold 'Gypsy Queen'

'Blue Jacket' almost ready to bloom for Chinese New Year.

Almost ready to eat! I wasn't sure I could pull this off without blossom rot.

The second tomato plant has a single fruit and some blooms.

We need a few nights at 55º F to set fruit.

 

White pots behind have Gerbera Daisy seedlings and a

daylily seedling extra. Two in one takes less space.

 

Thyme cuttings. I almost let all my Thyme die, so we're starting over.

 Brugmansia cuttings think Spring is at hand. I have shoots at the base of those outside. The
next freeze will take those away, I believe.

Second bloom stalk on 'Nymph' Amaryllis; Begonias behind.

 

I hope you enjoyed this little peek at my plants.