1st Tomatoes. Brugmansia. Gladiolas. 7.6.14

The First Sungolds.  7.6.14

Brugmansia.  First Flowers after Dormant Overwintering.  7.6.14

 Today there were three firsts.

We had the first tomatoes of the season.  That's very good.  Usually I don't get any until later.  they were just cherry tomatoes, but worth the effort.

The Brugmansia had its first flowers.  It is very fragrant.  It overwinters easily, no effort.  Same as geraniums.  Just let it dry out in the fall, move it into the garage for the winter, bring it back out in Spring and start watering again.

The first of the heritage gladiolas bloomed.  I didn't know what to do with them, so planted all into one container. 

Heritage Gladiolas.   7.6.14

Overwintering Pelargonium, Citrus, Brugmansia, Zantedeschia, Opuntia

Time to overwinter containerized plants, or give up on them.

Pelargoniums (zonal geraniums)  are still green and blooming, but some neighborhoods have already experienced frost.  I moved mine into the attached, frost-free but unheated garage.  For most of the winter I don't do anything to them.  I might add a little water late winter.  I think these are just 2 years old.

Braziliopuntia braziliensis, from Wikimedia commons

I have a Opuntia neoargentina also known as Brasioliopuntia braziliensis, which is frost tender.  I've managed to keep it alive for 20 years, by bringing it inside or keeping cuttings.  I think the current plant is about 6 years old.  It will be in a bright cool room at the battleground place.  Last year I kept it in the basement without watering.  It didn't thrive, but it did survive.  I want to repot it into a larger container and would like to see it bloom next year.  Photo from wikimedia commons.  Mine is not nearly that big.

I have an unnamed Zantedeschia that I've grown in containers for 25 years.  I bring it inside for the winter.  It bloomed this year, but not much.  Needs re-potting in fresh growth medium.  It's in the garage now.

The Brugmansias are kept in the garage overwinter.  I try to let them, and the other plants, sit outside in a rain-free location for a few weeks before bringing inside, to start dormancy.  That way they don't grow weak useless growth while in storage.

I also brought Epiphyllum oxypetallum to Battleground to keep in sunny cool room.  I also kept that in the basement last year without water.  It wasn't that healthy looking, but bloomed twice.

The Meyer lemon, Kumquat, and unnamed 15-year-old seed-grown citrus are in cool sunny bedroom window.

That's about all of the overwintering I can handle.  If it doesn't freeze tonight, I have an aloe to bring in. 

Brugmansia blossom.

 First blossom for brugmansia, which I started from cutting this Spring.  I did not know what the color would be.

Interesting.  White with pink blush, double flower.

Brugmansia.

Brugmansia and Charlie

Brugmansia

 A few weeks back this brugmansia dropped its buds and some leaves.  I was having a difficult time keeping up with watering.  I repotted into a container about twice the volume.  Now it stays moist longer, and is blooming like crazy again.

Brugmansia cutting

Brugmansia cutting

Brugmansia new roots

 Not sure when I started this Brugmansia cutting.  It was mailed by a fellow gardener.  Started in a glass of water - maybe 3 weeks.  Changed water daily.  When roots were about one mm long, transferred to juice can / potting soil.  That was about 2 weeks.  Now roots peeking through holes drilled in bottom of juice can, so potted up.  Growing fast.  I won't predict whether it will bloom this year.

Brugmansia potted up

Brugmansia

Charlie's not as enthusiastic about this as I am. It's late but I had neglected it for a couple of months. Not sure what's causing the holes in the leaves, probably a caterpillar.

Deck Plants Progress Notes

Today is the day for progress notes.

I have been diligent about keeping the deck plants watered. They are on the North side of the house, although some receive either full sun or morning and evening sun.

Most of these were overwintered by "cheap+easy" methods - click on labels below for that history.

Epiphyllum bud - looks like this will be the only bud. It's growing rapidly. It looks like buds form on secondary branches. Since it grew substantially, but most growth involved production of primary stems, the promise is for next year. Behind the epiphyllum is a clivia in bud. They have been blooming nicely this summer, too.

There are also 2 hybrid epiphyllums. They were bought last year as rooted cuttings. They are growing, but I doubt that they will bloom this year.

I suspected that this Euphorbia "Burgundy Wine" was dead. It was overwintered dry, in the garage.

Cannas, now blooming. They seem to like container growth, and overwintering inside. This is the best that they have grown and bloomed.

More cannas.

Euphorbia splendens. I've always thought of this as a house plant. It's doing nicely outside, with more flowers than it has had before.

There have been occasional brugmansia blossoms. I think that the best is yet to come, wtih more buds forming now. Very fragrant in the evening.

Brugmansia "status report"

This no-name brugmansia was taken out of the garage, cleaned up, and repotted 10 weeks ago. Not too promising then. I'll post again when it starts to bloom.

Click on the "brugmansia" tag below, to see what it looked like 10 weeks ago.

This brugmansia was a cutting, and I thought it might not survive the cheap+lazy method of drying out in the garage, so I kept in in a sunny window. It doubled in size during the winter. Now it's repotted and on the deck. The yellow leaves are a response to too much sun on the older leaves, but they'll soon be replaced by the newer, greener leaves.

Brugmansia, getting ready for Spring.

This brugmansia was also stored in the garage. I did give it water 2 or 3 times during the winter - about a couple of pints each time. Some branches died, but most remained greenish and appeared plump and viable.


Bruggie looking crispy, but most of the stems look healthy. It has more dehydration damage than it did in storage last year (see photo link via labels) so maybe i needed to water it more.

This year it will be in a larger container, a wooden container that last held a fig tree. The root mass isn't overly tangled. I think that bruggies don't make the mass of roots that would be seen for a fig of the same size.

Now it's pruned, with only the dead material removed. I don't think that it needs additional shaping at this time.


Now repotted, and thoroughly watered. Like the cannas, it's now on the south facing sun deck. It's a cloudy day, with more to come, so I don't think that there is much risk of sunburn.

Overwintering

This room has a south-facing window. It is not used so the heat is turned off. The temperature is usually in the 50s on cold days. Some of the heat is solar, some due to adjacent hallway. The Clivia miniata (lower right corner) are in their "2 months without water" phase. Here is the Royal Horticultural Society info on clivia culture (most of the other websites use the common name which I read is quite offensive). The banana and gingers are watered a little each week, about 2 cups of water each. Lower left, a citrus from seed and Meyer lemon, also minimal watering. Other plants with the same treatment include the Epiphyllum oxypetalum, Brazilopuntia, Aloe vera, scented geranium, and small Brugmansia.


Overwintering using the "warm sunny" method. In the home office windowsill, also south facing but warmer (usually 60s to 70s depending on the sun) are some additional cacti, a Hippaestrum that finished blooming, some Schlumbergera, and additional succulants.

Overwintering. Dark, cool & dry vs. light, not as cool, and not as dry

This dracaena and trailing pelargonium are overwintering, dry, dark, in the garage. It is attached so doesn't freeze.
The brugmansia overwintered in this spot last year, same garage. The cannas were dug up this tijme because several died or did very poorly with overwintering outside last year. Some pelargonia and zantedeschia are overwintering in this situation as well. The more tender zantedeschia dont survive winter here, but take to the dry/dark/cool method very well.
This is the spare bedroom that, until a month ago, had a carpeted floor. You cant see the spot here, but there is a 1X3 foot plywood patch on one side. The rest is a nice hardwood oak floor, full thickness tongue and groove oak. I need to get saucers under a couple of pots (as soon as I finish this posting). The cacti (Epiphyllum and a coujple of opuntia) should be OK here since they have wintered for several years in the room. The citrus are a bit anemic but as long as they survive, that's OK. There is also a small brugmansia - we'll see how it does, a cavendish banana - last year it died down to the container, and I would like to keep more of it alive if possible. An aloe, and two gingers are also present. the gingers may be OK outside or in the garage, but i wanted to see if I could maintain them green for a head start next year.

Fall

The brugmansia like this weather. The most blooms ever.
My favorite fig, "Vancouver" Brunswick- giving me about one fig per day. They ar enot all ripening at onc,e which is great.
Petite negri. When they ripen, there should be lots, soon.
The main tomato that remains is principe borghese. The others have a few stragglers, too.

Brugmansia

I'm a BAD BOY.

All summer long, I've been watching this brugmansia limp along, anemic and rarely blooming, with yellowish leaves and not much growth. Finally, I gave in and gave it s little miracle grow (gasp!). It's responded in a big way, with the most flowers ever, the leaves are bright green, and it's put out some new growth.

OK, ONE plant got some miracle grow. Obviously, it was missing something - I did use Whitney's organic fertilizer when repotting it, and had given it some doses of fish emulsion, without much benefit.

Here's how I look at it. If someone cant absorb vitamin B12, we give them injections. If they have an infection ,we give an antibiotic. If they have cancer, we givce chemotherapy. That doesnt mean that living a healthy lifestyle with good balanced diet and daily exercise isn't the best for almost anyone, it's just that sometimes there is a situation where something 'extra' may be needed.

At least, that's how I justify it. Next year I'll give it a good dose of chicken poop compost, and see if that does the job.

Brugmansia First blossoms this year.

The first brugmansia flowers of the year. Today is a day of firsts.

Hymenocallis blossom. Brugmansia bud. Opuntia ears.

I thought this might bloom mid or late summer. Here it is tonight.

Below is the brugmansia. Sorry about the blurry photo - might need to invest in better cam. I was surprised to find some little flower buds already. This probably points to June blossoms.
The little opuntias are growing 'ears'

Brugmansia

The leaves are starting to fill in. It's on a south facing deck. The leaves are a bit yellow. This is also the case for come of the ginkgos and a rose-of-sharon, so maybe it's the cold nights? A nutrient deficiency? I gave it a boost of fish emulsion. On the other hand, maybe I overdid the compost and organic vegetable food? However, according to this site (American Brugmansia and Datura Society), Brugmansias like heavy feeding and high nitrogen. I also noted on Gardenweb that some growers add Epson Salts - maybe next weekend if it's still lookin peaked. On the ohter hand, this may be 'killing with kindness' so maybe it should just get water and no food. Stay tuned....

Brugmansia

The brugmansia was starting to produce tiny leaves in the garage. I decided to repot it and move it outside. The root ball wasn't as thick and difficult as I had expected. Not at all like what a fig would be, for a similar size tree. I removed as much soil as could be easily removed, about 1/2 of the original soil.
Here it is after repotting and some light pruning. I added some perlite and some Whitney's "Bulb and Bloom" organic fertilizer to the soil. It's now on the south side of the house. Hoping it doesn't get sunburned. This time of year, the sun is still low in the sky.

There were a few prunings left. I stuck them into a glass of water. If they grow, I don't know what I'll do with them.