Brugmansias.....it's almost winter.....

Jean Knightii lasts well if it isn't too hot and humid or if it does not rain ...in weather it likes it sticks around. Don't water over the bloom, we can't stop the rain though, unless you stand there with an umbrella. :)

chrissy

cestrum, that looks lovely, which cross is it?, it seems that your pinks are having a lovely Autumn..can't wait until my whites are a couple of years older.....
What a good year we have had.....

It's the problematic Peanut x Ruffles and Flourishes, whose flowers this past growing season have been almost all deformed. Now, with frost around the corner, it decides that it might drop its skirts and strike a pretty stance!
Meanwhile, I've re-dusted that suaveolens flower with fresh Bucks Fizz pollen but haven't tied up the bloom because I don't want to spoil it. It's possible that a bee might pollinate it with something else but suaveolens is the rare brug that almost never gets open pollinated despite being covered in bees and surrounded by flowering brugs.

cestrum ...Judy had Star Dancer seeds, did she perhaps share a seed or cutting with you ?
Strange we don't see it anywhere in the threads or forums except from Viola and just one or two people at the most, is it a change of weather trait in the sauveolens I wonder ...just like dropped skirts in doubles.

chrissy

That suaveolens came from a swap years ago, possibly my first-ever swap, either in the AusGarden days or even earlier from the Gardening in Oz forum on GardenWeb before it became a ghost town. But I can't remember whether it came from a cutting or seeds, as I received both. I didn't get it from Judy, but I wonder where Judy's came from? (Or whether she swapped with the GardenWeb angel who gave them to me?)
Dunno what causes it. As I said, the last such bloom was in January, probably no pattern to it. Doesn't even happen on the same branch ...

I was Angel Lady in Ausgarden :) cestrum ...Alistair asked me to join it, I was wondering if Dianne was rose lady (or something similar).
Hardly anyone seemed familiar with Brugs in those days. Seems so long ago, like so many things do these days. Boy was I green (how embarrassing). So much to learn and then in the learning so many questions still to ask.
Alistair's book is very inspiring but in a way I wish it were not, because you want them all as any collector does.
More than anything to make my own, but I admit to being sucked into buying some seeds from over the pond in order to expand the gene Pool, I don't think there are many genes missing any longer, now we just have to disassemble and then reassemble and create Aussie stunners.

chrissy



This message was edited May 28, 2012 6:48 PM

No Chrissy, DG was the first online gardening site that I joined...I wouldn't mind being roselady, sounds nice...
and when I think that I only joined because Jane Edmondson talked about the apricot Brugmansia that she had in her garden on the radio and the very next time I went to my local nursery, they had a couple of OAs not in flower...naturally I bought one and went online to find out about it....I had always known them as Daturas.....lol

That's when I discovered a group of fanatical brug growers on DG.... :-)

She wasn't actually called 'angel', she was just very generous :-)
I think froggy aurea came from her too, via seed. I vaguely remember her saying that one batch of the seeds was described as 'double white' (i.e. by whoever had given them to her originally) but I didn't get any doubles from either the cuttings or seeds. It was too long ago now to remember if that was because the seeds turned out to be singles or if the so-called double whites didn't germinate. All lost in the mists of time (or the quagmire of my memory) now ... BTW, she's a Qlder and I remember that she shared the name of her street (i.e. her first name = the name of her street).
The more I think about it, the more I think that the cuttings were this suaveolens; the seeds that germinated became froggy aurea; and the seeds that didn't must have been the double white. But I'd be guessing ...

I can't remember too much about it either ...I always felt a bit uncomfortable.
I never swapped things in there I don't think, I was wondering if somehow Judy's plants (cuttings) from the seeds she grew (Star Dancer x open pollinated) may have found their way to you via a cutting.Can't remember when we got the seeds now maybe 2008- I know there were limited seeds and we purchased most of them between us. I have spotted only a couple of the seedlings from that one off sale ...one was yellow with no cuts in the petals and the other was plain white suaveolens type. Just curious that's all. As we know there are plenty of brug lovers who are quietly growing their plants in their gardens. I'm sure Shaun will track all the Victorian ones down :) I did send stuff out to quite a few QLD gardeners (and others) in the early years and lost track Most just never came back with results for seeds and cuttings.
I have had one double white with cut petals that had a label on it marked Star Dancer that was a dead ringer for Knightii but for the cuts and a slightly narrower tube, I am waiting for it to bloom again because I want to have a closer look at it, just in case it is a mistake. All the rest have been single whites so far, none with cut petals, one of them is special because it sits up and looks at you with a Mother Of Pearl face. Since they were open pollinated they could have anything in them but I know white suaveolens tend to dominate (the white I mean).

chrissy

2008 is too late; I've had this white suaveolens longer than that.
A cut-petal knightii-type brug sounds pretty good, though :-)

This message was edited May 29, 2012 8:14 AM

Here's a photo of it in Oct 2006.

That is a lovely suaveolens where ever it came from cestrum :)
Thanks for the feedback on that. Look at the tendrils, it is a cross of some kind.

chrissy

Here are my first Brugmansia from seed, the ones the ants did not get, from Lucas lot ( Cestrum ) Damian x Buck Fizz doing well they are 3.

Those are Domain x Bucks Fizz seeds that I sent to Lucas. The leaves on the left plant look quilted and the those on the right look smooth, but that could just be a quirk of the photograph.
But I think they're originally yours seeds, Chrissy? Or did you get them from somewhere else? Amazing how they've done the rounds. Now all they have to do is make their way back to you LOL

I had Domain x Buck's Fizz ...so did Wayne I think.
Good on you Gina ...they should grow like mad up there now we are going into Winter, a perfect time in your climate as it may be too hot in Summer. In Summer up there they would need plenty of shelter. Shade clothe if you don't have trees.

Well it's a bit depressing out in the garden, lots of dropped buds, sadly Fernando is dropping most of them, he seems to like moderate temps to put on his show.Lots of leaves starting to shed ...It's Winter *Sigh* The seed Pods are holding on ...so far.
I miss my darlings already.

chrissy

I know I shouldn't have risked, it but I just had to see if they were fertile ...I will be having a long long Winter nursing this latest little test seed ...it's from BB (Holland/German) ...it sprouted !, couldn't be more thrilled, it is Creamsickle x Super Spot. Hopefully this means they are all fertile. I wanted to see if it was ok because the seed cases look so different to the USA seed cases, so was concerned it might have meant they were no good. If I lose this little baby it will be a sad thing, however at least I can say those seeds are good if anyone was worried about theirs or contemplating the purchase of some. As mentioned I have many little bubbies in their humidy cribs outside ...they are doing ok, but Winter is just starting, it will be a good and scary/exciting experiment. If I lose them we still know the others will grow quickly in Spring. I will nurture this one though because as you know I lusted over Creamsickle for my work towards a white version of Twilight Time. I love her shape and stamina in T T and dearly hope to come as close as possible to a white version of her.
I planted one each of every seed I got from Liz too- well yes I know- naughty but testing, OMG sprouts everywhere.
Blaming Alistair and his HUANDUJ.
My back aches just thinking about all the work next year ...oh but I can't wait .
How about you ?
I forgot to ask what your favourite section of the book was ? or which part you enjoyed the most.

chrissy

Hi folks.. Hope this is not true but today I was talking to a friend who, until recently, operated a commercial hibiscus nursery in Queensland and he tells me that the Federal Govt is soon to announce making brugs and datura ILLEGAL. Although this friend is no longer operating a nursery he is still in receipt of nursery trade magazines and is in contact with other nursery operators so perhaps he knows what he is talking about? He has heard that the government is presently trying to work out a compensation package for one specialist brugmansia nursery who will be forced to shut down after the announcement.
Has anyone else heard anything in the grapevine in relation to this??
Allan

Hi Allan it has been about a year and a half since that was to be on the list of things to be looked at.
Since that time the Attorney General has been replaced and nothing more has been seen of this subject.
I think a certain Nursery up North is probably not happy to see home gardeners making beautiful Brugs.
I am not concerned, I wasn't then and I am not now.
We are just gardeners, not *Drug pushers*, if they are after anyone, it is people like *that. Not people like us.
Just my opinion of course. Many Nurseries sell them now, even Bunnings. ^_^
Alistair's Book has also come out since then ...applauded by Gardening experts World Wide.

chrissy

This message was edited May 29, 2012 11:35 PM

That sounds very convincing, Allan......
Except for the fact that I was listening to Stephen Ryan (former host of Gardening Australia) on radio 2 weeks ago and he was extolling the virtues of Brugmansias and bemoaning the fact that he lives on Mt Macedon and can't grow the warm climate ones, but was planning on trying the varieties that grow at higher altitudes...This discussion came about because the panel was reading Alistair's book and Stephen had received an invitation to the book launch in Melbourne, which he was looking forward to attending.

So I tend to think that if a ban was imminent, he might have mentioned it....
Dianne.

Thanks for that little tid bit Dianne, would you mind telling us which radio station it was on so I can track it down ?

Shaun will be there at the launch ...can't wait to hear how it went,
I hope it is a raging success and the beautiful HUANDUJ sells out.

Australian gardeners should get to know Brugmansia, hopefully one day they will take their rightful place in gardens everywhere.


chrissy

Hi guys,
i am a full on freak for Brugs like we all are,
the common person states "that's poisonous" i mention is it not beautiful
what we need to do is get them thinking differently about our plants. as long as the mind set is in Poison mode there will probably be not much movement in the growing or advancement of Brugmansia in Australia.

Dianne thanks for that little bit of info, i know Steve Ryan from about 15years ago as i bought from his nursery in Mt Macedon some very rare & unusual perennials but i don't think he has it any more it was behind the post office.

I will be at the Book Launch on Thursday so ill meet Alistair in person which should be a thrill as i have been buying from him for almost 10years i think the first email was 2005

Mt Macedon would be perfect for the cold-climate brugs. Mind you, I'm not convinced that he couldn't grow the so-called warm-climate ones outside too. Maybe not in the open, but under the shelter of trees etc. I would think they would grow and flower, just over a shorter period.

A comparison of my two double pinks. It's a shame that the one with triple blooms has turned out to be so troublesome (with so many deformed blooms, insect-infected leaves and deformed innards). PS: At top right you can see a bit of Chrissy's Old Apricot x Butterbomb.

This message was edited May 30, 2012 10:27 AM

Still some fog here, but the brugs love the cool and moist air.
There are buds everywhere but I htink they will not gow too much more when the cold wind and maybe a frost or two get at them.
The 2 GHAs are a mass of buds and they will flower.
I have plenty of nice new green growth which looks lovely now but will fall off during winter.
I am so pleased with the little Knightii as she shows her dainty flowers . The white does look lovely on these dull days.
I see that Clementine is deciding to put out a few buds again. She is very moody here.

BB will flower again soon too. Like GHA he likes the cool .

The coldies are looking so much better now and I am going to move more of them outside the shadehouse.

Shaun, you will enjoy yourself at the book launch.
Congratulations to Alistair and all concerned with the book.

With regard to the talk on banning brugs, all I can say is, they had better ban everything as almost all we grow is poisonous in some way.
Even some of our "healthy " vegies can be harmful if used the wrong way.
My brugs are staying here, no matter what.
Can you imagine people going all over the country trying to locate and destroy every brug ?
I would be asking what is in their gardens that can be poisonous.
All the Botanic Gardens have some sort of harmful plants .
Maybe we should get together and ban all the "people police"
They do more harm with their stupid ideas.

Jean.

Sounds lovely Jean, I hope you get to see some more blooms, love foggy mornings.

Have fun Shaun ...take pics !

cestrum that bloom is so pretty, what a shame it has problems. I still think it could improve, try some cuttings in different places if you can, it may need more sun, less sun, more shade or less shade etc, I don't really have to tell you that I know, but it is just general advice to everyone who has a pretty Brug with problems, I like your water marks, I can still see the flowers now ^_^

chrissy

I have taken cuttings of it for that very purpose, Chrissy, as the exposed branches would have died back from frost anyway. If they strike, I'll plant them in different spots around the garden. I won't be giving any more pieces of it away though because I think it just has too many problems. Esp. when we've got so many doubles coming on now anyway. (Although I don't mind breeding from it, to see if these problems can be overcome. Except that most of the time the innards are deformed and almost impossible to use!)

I'm referring to the triple bloomer, not this one, which is the more reliable double pink. (Shown here with OA x BB.)

This message was edited May 30, 2012 12:53 PM