22 Year Old Tree Hibiscus

 

Today was the day to move her to the garage

and start the stripping of the leaves to move

her inside.  The smaller pot was done already

and it will take a couple days to get it done.

9/30/2021

It took a couple days to strip the

leaves and leave the buds and 

blooms.   Then bring her inside.

Just to cool for her to be outside.

Awesome Seeds

 

Started working on the seeds yesterday and

thought you would like to see these.  Castor

bean seeds look so marble.   This is the first

batch of seeds with several more pods on the

plant.   I really enjoyed this plant this year as

it was a first time for me to grow them.  Thanks

to a friend in NE that sent me seeds.

Tonight In The Brugmansia House.

 

Last Night's Awesome View

 

From inside the greenhouse.

More blooming to come.

Newest Perennial Hibiscus

 H. Summer Carnival

Yes, she is variegated!!

New Clematis

Are still putting on a great show so I 

don't have the heart to cut them back

just yet.  Enjoy!!

 

Plus a couple old clematis still blooming.

Time To Focus On The Fall Cut Back

Plus move all the special plants inside!  

 

There is still plenty that is still blooming

so they will be left until last.  After the 

the Brugmansia are put way, it's time to 

go bed by bed and remove what I can.  

Also time to put down the Fall fertilizer.

Time to also harvest seeds!!

I was also asked why the early cut back.

Some of the items we are not saving seeds

and so it can be cut back once the leaves 

start to yellow.  It is also time to treat irises

and they can be cut back.  I will also be 

stripping the rose leaves, less mess.  This

past weekend I started to cut back the 

Clematis due to mildew, less mess.  But

have left some as they are blooming like

crazy, the bees still need to eat.  The Pollen

is lacking in some plants so they too can 

go.    Really I just don't do the cooler 

weather like I used to be able to do.  

Brugmansias Put Away For The Season!

 It is official the last Brugmansia got put

away today.  B. Shorty's got left out in

last night's storm and with the wind it

was time to get her where she was safe.

She lost 6 buds over night and one

moving her to the greenhouse.  One

flower while moving her inside and 

she hits the ceiling.  When you open

the door the fragrance hits you hard!!

The stump to the lower left is where we

took the limb that had the albino 

sport from.   This area wants to just

throw off sports.

Brug House

Is now up and running to protect the collection.

The last 12 will go into the greenhouse

after they are done blooming. 

Change of plans with the upcoming storm!  

High winds last night really tossed some plants

to the ground.  Thank goodness the brugmansias

were mostly put away.  It is still early but when

the coast gets down to the mid 30s, it's only time

for us to think winter also.  So if you haven't 

started getting ready for it, one should start!  

Fall Crocus Are Up

 

Time to put plants away!

Closing The Garden

 15th of September we plan to close the

gardens for the year!  So if you have plants

that we are holding, please pick up as once

we close we will not open the greenhouse

after it's all put away.

Time to Strip the Brugs

 We will be closing the gardens on 15th

so I have started to strip the leaves off 

the Brugmansia to get them ready to be

put away.  Need to get them protected before

tree stuff start to fall.  

That means stripping off all but the top leaves,

we leave the buds but know they might fall off

due to moving.  Cleaning out the pots from all

the fir needles and refreshing the dirt as needed.

This year we didn't take special orders but have a

couple requests so those cuttings will come first.

This section is the med. sized brugs from 

the collection.

More to be done and set aside until the 

Brug house is ready.

I was asked to explain why I strip the leaves off.

There is a difference from the outside leaves and 

the inside leaves.  Also removing them there is

less of a mess in the greenhouse when they drop

off.  Also you can make sure all the caterpillars are

removed and any other insects.  The leaves will

grow back and during the winter months one needs

to keep the leaves at a min.  Hope this helps. 

Brugmansia or Datura?

 

We like to call these our Brug snobs.  When I 

asked this question most folks will state that 

they are Datura due to their upward bud.  

This cross was done when I was playing with 

both Brugmansia and Datura pollens.  I have three

of these plants that was a Brugmansia X Datura

and according to the data can be done either way.

I used Tissue Culture plants at the time so I knew

that they were better quality of plants than the 

common plants.  When crossing Datura with a 

brugmansia it's best to take the Anthers away before

they open.  As a datura will self pollenate as the 

flower drops.  Open gently pollenate the stigma and 

close back up.  I have also found that the flowers

do not open and bees do not have an interest if the 

anthers are removed.

When doing the Brugmansia X Datura cross, I also

remove the Anthers and make sure the pollen doesn't

touch the stigma.  Cover the stigma and close up the 

Corolla tube.

If you can get a copy of the 1940s crosses made you

will see that the mother of the cross is denominate.  So 

if you cross a Brugmansia X Datura, your plant will 

be more like a Brugmansia not a Datura and vice versa.

You will see signs of the pollen cross.

For those naysayers out there, try the cross before you

judge others.