Want your thoughts on shade plants used for brug protection

I have been getting my castor bean seeds ready for this coming year. There are a couple of sites that say to grow one seed per in each gallon pot and rhat they will reach up to 10 feet tall. It did not say to transplant them into the ground, but i plan to have them both in the ground and try a couple in pots to see what kind of barrier they provide against the winds and sun.

What do you all do for your brugs during the yearly winds and hot summer days. I've even used the market umbrella to provide shade for my two brugs. But our winds are brutal and i need a first line of defense which will be the castor bean plant this year. So, this week, i will sow at least six containers indoors maybe a few more that i can transplant in another month or two depending on how quickly the seedlings grow and i star to run out of room inside.

What are your plans if you dont mind sharing?

A.

I don't do much for the heat... just more water. The brugs in pots I weigh down with red bricks inside the pot. The ones in the ground get more water as well.

Rhapsody

Our summers here are brutal. '98 & '11 were beyond extreme heat with added humidity. Both summers just keeping leaves on Brugs was a challenge. One summer we used patio umbrellas for the medium size ones, inserted in the pot, this helped. But this summer we are going to experiment with misters during the hottest time of the day. I've found shade cloth to work better than umbrellas, it seems to allow more air flow. Not trapping heat.
Wind..that is another subject..we have moved to low wide pots, the stay upright better. When Brugs are in full bloom..the weight is substantial.

I stand by a product called watersorb, it hands down keeps more water in our soil. http://www.watersorb.com/ http://water-sorb.com/store.php?crn=207
We use the large size. We started using 11-12 years ago. About to order a fresh shipment for this year. In the SW US we really don't have an issue with pots staying to "wet" LOL
If one wants to you can activate this product in a bucket prior to use & add fertalizer to the water & pellets absorb this. Getting you off to a good start. Normally we just toss some in the soil mix & let it grow during its first water. You MUST mulch over this product!! West Nile is rampant here so standing water in saucers is not an option anymore.
I hope this helps some :)

I have been using the water beads in each pot. Similar to the watersorb.

Thanks guys,

The winds here are strong, and my concern was that it rips all the leaves to shreds aside from tipping them over as well. I thought that maybed the castor bean plants could take the brunt of the damages the winds cause. Yes this southwest heat is something else, it gets up in the three digits here too. I have a misting fan that i use in short spurts in the box turtle areas and it keeps them cool during the middle of the day.

I also got three palm trees in pots that i plan to move around on the patio.

Ill give the water crystals a try this year,

The market umbrella took a beating this past year. There is a corner that might be perfect for a tropical area this year. We have a cattle trough that i plan to put the elephant ears in, then add the palms and a few other plants.

I'm not sure about the castor beans. Personally I love them. In our similar heat the Brug leaves are going to take a hit by summers end. I don't mind loosing leaves in August if they get to beat up all it does around here is welcome red spider. In September ours usually will start putting all their energy into producing fall flushes of blooms. Good luck..play around and find what works for you :)

Bananas would be good or bamboo

I usually plant my brugs where they can get afternoon shade from a shrub or tree. Vitex Agnus castus is a nice ornamental tree, stays small and I planted brug in front yard on the side of the tree where it gets morning sun and afternoon shade. In my zone that is perfect. Another fast growing tree is eucalyptus, but need to prune it to be sure it doesn't get too tall. So my answer is just arrange the 'bones' of your landscape so there are plenty of afternoon shade areas to tuck brugs. I just observe the sun at different times of day in my yard. Am growing more vitex from seed so next year I can have another one. The trees get flowers of their own so they compliment the brugs very well.

I do have some variegated arum do grass in pots to move into that area, it can take winds, but it hates being potted up.

We just got a curly willow tree and I potted that into a larger half barrel container To use as a windbreak. At least for this year. I also plan to use the walls against the house too.

Thank you for the great ideas.
A.

Antoinette...............what is your average humidity in summer months? My brugs will grow in all day lightly dappled shade under an open overhead wooden frame. This also lends itself to mounting misters to combat low humidity.

There are a few brugs that are more resistant to heavy heat...............one of my favorites is Pink Perfektion................

It's hard to gauge the humidity where I live, my house sits next and across from agricultural fields, pecan groves, so when they irrigate the humidity offsets the dryness, since the farmers take turns irrigating, I get that moisture here almost all the time during the hottest parts of the summer, so we do okay here. Then I augment with a mister, and a large sprinkler.

You know that Cypress Gardens doesn't even wilt here planted in the ground, in full sun. But, it does wilt in a pot, so I have to shade it and the others. I thought it was coming back from the ground thus year but I just keep watering it too much so it rots. I just need to keep on practicing here.

This message was edited Apr 12, 2014 12:07 PM

Wholyhosta glad to know a PP is handling heat! Have a young cutting doing very well. I so wish there was a comprehensive list for old & new people to reference....Brugs that handle heat well! Our climate here can be extreme

Coco............Anything that blooms 3-6 times in a season for me is a winner. My Dorthea does well also. And is my favorite pink single.
I am sure there is a list somewhere.
The maturity of the plant (the developed root system) also plays a major role in getting a brug to bloom well for you all season. And sometimes just to bloom at all!
Mustafa is three years old for me. It finally got large enough with good roots to bloom.............and then it blossomed all summer for me!
Antoinette........... you are fortunate to have your little eco-environment!!! I am surprised you are growing brugs in NM!

It takes determination and stubbornness on my part .. Lol

A.

Running out of semi-shade spots for my brugs. I like to plant them where they get morning sun and afternoon shade. Thinking about building a semi-shade structure, so I can collect more of them. Any structure examples out there? Would appreciate any thoughts/ideas.

We have shade sails crossing our back patio area 4 of them. This year I'm going to load it up with the brugs. They still get sun, just not searing. We have had the sails up for years & they really help in our heat. One other benefit is they do not trap the heat like awnings do. We purchase them on ebay and they are quite inexpensive. You just have to think how/where to install..it is a math thing!! Next year we may mix some fun colors in the sails, the year they are all beige.

Here are some images.

What a cool idea, Coco................and beautiful. Looks the the layering might help the air move thru!! Very nice!

Brenda

I like those sails too, looks like lowes has them fir sale on their site as well. Don't know how they compare in price though. They don't come with the tie downs either.

ShepMike, if you aren't near the Santa Anna winds, maybe a lath area would work for you, using lattice panels as the roof. Like they do for cactus and orchids.

Thanks Gourd. I'm 20 minutes from the coast, so we do get a little wind. Sounds like I need to explore the lath area that you suggested.

Wind has never been an issue. It is not uncommon for us to 50-60 MPH winds when a front or big storm is in the area. These shades are installed off of a 30' off the ground peak & take n/s crosswinds.

This photo was made several years ago before I knew that Brugs didn't like afternoon Sun. These were in full Afternoon sun and Bloomed like this all Summer Wish I could remember what they were. I need to plant some in that same place this year.

Looks like Isabelle or Frosty Pink?

Thank you, I have both of those. May have been Isabelle. She gets really Big some years.

Coco bid, I found a sail, at a place called Tractor supply. It is a 10X12, they had some smaller ones and were out of the larger one. I'm anxious to get that up. We may need another one, only thing is, they only had two smaller ones. I'll post photos next week, maybe we can get the poles by next Sunday on the following weekend.

Thank you for posting about the sails, I never knew they existed.


Edited for spelling..



This message was edited May 6, 2014 8:47 AM