Brugmansia

All:

I recently acquired a couple of Brugmansias and was hoping to get a little
advice from someone with experience growing them in a similar climate.  We
have HOT, dry summers.  It got up to 98F (around 37C) yesterday, with more
of the same in the forecast, and cool damp winters with lows occasionally
dipping into the 20sF (-2C to -7C).  I have my plants in large terracotta
pots in a semi-shaded position, and so far they haven't shown signs of heat
stress, but I'm holding my breath.  The forms I have are labeled Brugmansia
X candida "Double White," and Brugmansia X insignis "Pink."  The pink one
has many buds on it and has already unfurled a couple of its incredible
flowers.  The buds started out lime green with yellow tips.  The yellow
slowly faded to white as the flowers opened, and then gradually darkened to
a luminous salmon pink.  Delightful!  The flowers literally open and change
color before your eyes.  And they're wonderfully fragrant, reminiscent of
orange blossom and magnolia.  As the pink form was already covered in buds,
I didn't want to make any misguided attempts at training.  The "Double
White" form, however, had no buds and a strong, upright shoot, so I pruned
off the other branches and plan to train it as a standard.  I've cut my
prunings into pieces and am trying to root them in water.  I'll let you know
how that works.  Now, back to the advice.  I've only ever seen one specimen
growing in the ground in my area.  It was a largish shrub of the single
white-flowered form and was planted next to the front door on the north side
of a Craftsman cottage in Lodi, California.  I spotted it in October of last
year, and it was spectacular - completely covered with flowers.  I haven't
been back to see it since, and am curious to know how it survived our hard
winter.  I'd like to try growing them in the ground.  They are supposed to
be hardy in USDA Zone 9 (coming back from the roots in the event of a hard
freeze), but they are so seldom encountered around here, I wonder if the
cold and damp of our winters or the heat and wind of our summers makes them
unsuitable to this area.  Is there any one out there in a similar climate
with Brugmansia wisdom to share?  Thanks.

Kurt Mize
Stockton, California
USDA Zone 9
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