Re: Brugmansia

Kurt wrote:
>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.  

I grow them out of doors throughout the year here down in the far
South West of England.  Summers highs due to maritime influences are
nowhere as high and winter lows are somewhat higher (rarely below
minus 2C and barely lasting for more than a couple of hours) and they
do remarkable well without being killed back to the rootstock.  All
easily withstand our average 'highs' (about 27 - 28C) and grow
exceptionally quickly at this temperature.  I understand that growth
tends to slow down somewhat when it rises much above 33C, but it has a
been a couple of years since we last saw anything like that.  I do
find that the cool loving B. sanguinea suffers by late afternoon when
tempetures peak and for a couple of hours looks very sad indeed.  

>The forms I have are labeled Brugmansia
[Snip]
> 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 grow the wonderful single, butter yellow 'Golden Queen' in this way
and it is by far the best method of enjoying those spectacular 14"
long flowers.  The only problem is that if you get cold winds in
winter, even at temperatures above freezing, the main trunk is likely
to suffer from damage when very young.  This is due to the tissue thin
bark which offers no protection from wind chill.  I would certainly
lag the stem with hessian for the first couple of winters at least.
since yours is in a pot, moving to a wind sheltered site will also
help enormously.  Another thing needing to be taken into consideration
in cool winter areas is that new growth is often subject to 'cold
chlorosis' with the young, new leaves being rather stunted and yellow
until day-time highs reliably stay above 20C and night-time lows above
14C.  It is a condition that passes quickly and may not occur at all
in areas where the temperature rockets early in the year.  Being a
good 10` further north than you, our temperatures increase slowly and
so we have long, comparatively cool springs more commonly seen in the
more northerly, coastal areas of the PNW.

>I've cut my
>prunings into pieces and am trying to root them in water.  I'll let you know
>how that works.  

It works perfectly well Kurt - cuttings in winter take about 10 days
to root at most and if they are 'puddled' into their compost on
potting up will establish extremely quickly.

>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?  

Without doubt they spring back from the roots each year and given good
growing conditions are likely to hit 8 feet by mid summer - That's
what happens in sheltered spots here in England.  In order to maintain
your standard and for it to become more impressive each year you will
need to offer some protection, but without a doubt, it is well worth
the small amount of effort expended.  I've got a pic of one of mine
on:
http://www.ilsham.demon.co.uk/new/brugmans.htm

It was taken in July last year and the plant was in its 3rd year,
having been pruned very hard to within a couple of buds of the main
trunk earlier that spring.  Flowering continued until December with
the last flower opening on Dec. 18th.  I've replaced it with a better
shaped, similar sized one for this year which was grown form a cutting
taken last July.  Take no notice of much of the rest of the site - it
is there for experimental purposes only with only half the links
working, loads of spelling mistakes and the occasional mis-quote on
zone suitabilities (I write them when I'm often too tired and a zone 9
becomes 10 etc.) - the full properly amended one will be ready by
early autumn.  

Dave Poole
TORQUAY  UK
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index