Yikes, Allison! I'll take that as fair warning. Whatever you get there is an indication of what I'll soon see here. I sure hope the dropping temps settle in slowly, rather than strike unexpectedly. I also hope we can make it until Halloween or a little later.
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
Gosh I haven't even started. Right now, at 8:51 PM, it's 64 degrees. I haven't seen anything close to frost yet. I will take me about two hours to get mine in the garage, so I'm holding out for more blooms right now.
ChSam (Shirley Morr)
Chariton, Iowa
Zone 5
This message has been edited by ChSam on Oct 14, 2007 10:33 PM
I know it's a lot of work for those of you who have to drag your brugs in for the winter. I'm just happy that I don't have to do that down here in south Texas. I'll be continuing to water and fertilize but then, too, I'll have brug blooms off and on during the winter months.
Charles Grimaldi is my most faithful bloomer but I now have several new ones that I hope will give me treats from time to time.
Enjoy your "brug rest" but I know you'll hardly be able to wait til spring rolls around, you drag them back outside and the new growth and blooms begin.
Our weather report looks pretty good for the next week, however, we live in the Puyallup valley and usually get frost when most of the surrounding areas don't. I am hoping to make it to Halloween to show my beauties to friends and family that will be visiting. My Charles Grimalde and my Betty Marshall are loaded with blooms and buds---oh boy!! These are great plants!!!
I leave this Thursday for a 2 week holiday 'down south' so mine had to be in. It takes me a day or two for my back to settle down after bringing them in and mine ( all 40 or so) were planted in the ground, not a single one in pots this year. It looks like a war zone in the 2 beds now LOL. I sure didn't want to leave it to (DH) to dig them, although he has become pretty good over the years from practise.
Ruth Ann, I can see why you need a vacation. What a job getting that many brugs into their winter residence. Where do you go "down south"? Have fun and rest up because it won't be long til they'll all need to be drug back out again!!
I am going to a get together near Atlanta Ga for this upcoming weekend. We are 20 or so gardeners from Canada, the USA and one from Finland who have been together for almost 10 years in a forum on the internet. We rotate an annual weekend each year between Canada and the USA.
The week after that there is the first international conference for ABADS ( the American Brugmansia and Datura Society) in Crestview Florida and I head there next.
See how much of a rut I am in, my holidays even revolve around plants LOL.
I didn't realize that all of your brugs were inground. That's backbreaking work even if you don't have a bad back to begin with! Enjoy your vacation.
Karyn
Well, I woke up to 55 "cool" degrees this morning, however, we will be back in the high 80's the remainder of the week with a new cold front coming on the week-end. We usually get our first frost late in November or early in December.
We've had a few nights in the 30's, but my brugs didn't seem to mind. Tomorrow, though, I will start digging the remainder of them up and getting them ready for winter. I have been holding out until the last minute...some of them are still blooming..I just hate to have to put them away...
Gee, its just getting nice enough here to do things outside again during the day - 90's upper 80's. Nights are upper 60-70 ish.. Hummingbirds galore lately, Its like they doubled over the last few weeks when the night temps dropped. I spent this morning pulling passionflowers, bananas, ginger, heliconia etc out of the shade house into full sun, now that it is way less intense they can stay out.
Hope the frost holds off for the northern forum members, its been a wicked summer and it would be nice to get some more blooms before it freezes!
Lenette, isn't that something...many are dragging their brugs inside and to their greenhouses and you are dragging things out to enjoy the natural sunshine. Mine stay in the ground year round so don't have to deal with it either way, thank goodness.
I brought my 2 youngins in last week before we had our first frost. (which dropped all my moonflower vines blooms that FINALLY just showed up urrgg!!) I decided to keep them inside, since the weather is so unpredictable. They did spend yesterday afternoon out in the nice sunny 75 weather. I just went out and bought a plant stand tree, so now they have a nice spot for this winter, along w/ my other house plants.
Today we have a big windstorm battering the Pacific Northwest. I spent several hours yesterday & this morning, preparing for this. The wind chill factor was somewhere in the low 40's & my hands were really cold. Now the winds are moving in. My area shouldn't be as bad as some others - this morning they were getting 62 MPH winds on the Oregon coast & the wind is blowing northward.
I cut the leaves off most of my brugs, so they won't blow over easily. I cut back a large butterfly bush that grows beside the house, so it won't whip the roof, gutter, wall & window. And I took down all my hanging baskets. I think I'm sufficiently prepared...just hope I don't lose electricity. I am getting some flickering lights, so I think I'll power off the computer for now.
How are the rest of you Puget Sounders coping with the winds?
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
We are having some wonderful weather for a change! As well as badly needed rain. This weekend I am going to try to mulch all my brugs well that are in the ground as well as other plants like my Tree Dahlia, Confedrate rose and MG bush. The rest will be able to go in GH when the time comes. Had a poor summer for all my brugs and other plants, but they seem to be getting vigorous now
Tree Dahlia! Whoo, I had to Google to find out about these. Wow! I've been digging dahlias all week, I must move to a warmer climate, it's the only answer. I want one.
Hi Patrick, we survived the wind, it knocked over only one smaller brug, we did turn the computer off, and I just turned it back on, we did not lose power. I am leaving my original brug out, hoping against hope to get the last six buds to bloom before I need to cut it back and bring it in.
The blow today was mild. Tipped over the taller brugs and hoped for the best. Lost power at work and at home. It came back on about 6:30 tonight. Kids wanted the power to say out, having fun in the wind.
So good to hear that most of you in the NW didn't have damage from the wrath that MN tossed at you. Hopefully, you'll have some nice sunshine for awhile yet to soften her frigid blow.
Well the frost came last night. It is down to 28* this morning, and I didn't know about the chance. Will see what the damage is when I get home tonight.
I'm letting my tree dahlia go. It hasn't even made buds yet, so there is no chance of even seeing blooms in the garage.
I'm sorry you guys out in the NW have had to go through a frost and all the winds. Mother Nature was not good to us during the summer, but she has provided us with a very nice and long fall. Our average first frost is Oct. 8 and we haven't had it yet.
We might get a frost this Sunday night. In a way I wish we would so I could just get it over with though I do despise cold weather. I have a couple brugs whose seed pods I'd like to mature, two small variegated plants and a few more that have buds that I'd like to see the color that will come inside. They remainder will be cut back and allowed to go dormant. It's depressing because it means the nice weather is really over I get a bad case of the blues once the outdoor gardening is done for the year. I'm sure that I have S.A.D. At least the HID lights seem to lift my mood a bit. I should grab a lounge chair and hang out in my grow room. lol
Karyn
(DH) to dig them, although he has become pretty good over the years from practise.
Have fun and rest up because it won't be long til they'll all need to be drug back out again!!
) I decided to keep them inside, since the weather is so unpredictable. They did spend yesterday afternoon out in the nice sunny 75 weather. I just went out and bought a plant stand tree, so now they have a nice spot for this winter, along w/ my other house plants.
