I mentioned before that I was experimenting with growing a brug in a hanging basket. I have a creme colored seedling brug that shows a strong horizontal branching habit, so I cut one of its trunks about 10" below the first Y & rooted it. I planted that in my largest hanging basket along with "Cloth of Gold" fuchsia starts and white bacopa.

During our chilly spring weather, I kept the basket on my covered back porch. Then I moved it out under my large mountain ash tree, where it gets only morning sun. That's where the photo was taken. It is now ready to hang from the corner of my back porch - I'm anxious to see how it does!





Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

It is looking good, I look forward to flowering pictures.

Sally
Zone 5b
heat zone 4
Enfield Connecticut



http://community.webshots.com/user/sallycummings

How are you going to hang it, Patrick? With wire or with rope? Looks great, but a large basket.

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

It's not as big (or heavy) as it might appear, Carrie. Notice the size of the fuchsia leaves in comparison to the pot size. Also, look closely at the center of the brug, where the branches leave the trunk. You'll see rusty chains piled on top of the brug stems...the basket hangs from 3 rather small chains. My back is giving me a little trouble, but I'll soon be hanging the basket up near the corner of my porch roof.

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Please post pics when it gets in full bloom... it looks like a great combo of plants that will be very pleasing.

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

Tootsie was in a basket last year & did just fine but the plant didn't make it over winter. I didn't do any others this year, I'm out of hanging room with 4 Epis hogging all the good spots.

Linda

I'm glad I took the original pic even tho the basket wasn't very showy at that early stage. A couple of weeks later, the basket is looking a lot better & the fuchsia and bacopa seem to be good companions to the brug. I think I've spotted a few very small buds forming on the brug, so I'm anxious to see it come into bloom.



The fuchsias are starting to get some shade from the brug leaves...they may appreciate that later in the summer, as the basket will be exposed to a lot of direct sun.





Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

BTW, the fuchsias' leaf color is normal...the name of it is 'Cloth of Gold'. I believe the flowers will be a fairly typical purple & red.



Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Lots of growth on that basket, Patrick. I still want to see pics AFTER you hang it. It is really looking good !!!

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

So far, so good. Keep us posted.

Canada 5b
Forum editing tech

It's looking great Patrick, I can't wait to see a picture of your brug. basket in bloom.

Patricia
Livermore, Calif.
San Fran. Bay area

beautiful

Sally
Zone 5b
heat zone 4
Enfield Connecticut



http://community.webshots.com/user/sallycummings

It looks really happy there. Nice combination, even if the Fuschia doesn't make it in the heat, the Bacopa should take over.

I see lots of pots in the background, what else do you have there?

Linda

Linda, I think the fuchsia will survive our "heat". Some fuchsias get sunburnt more easily than others, but it doesn't usually get too hot for them here. These may eventually hang down far enough to expose themselves to more sun, but I think the brug leaves will provide enough shade to satisfy them.

The spot the photo was taken in has been a work area where I've been doing the last of the repotting of brugs. Now I'm "staging" the brugs, getting them into the positions where I want them to spend the rest of the summer. I will be happy when I finish trialing the seedlings and cull those that don't make the grade...I'm becoming a real believer in "Less is More".



Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Ok, Carrie...the basket has been hung! 1 of the 3 main branches is considerably longer than the other 2. After I get some blooms, I may shorten that 1 branch to balance the overall appearance.




Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

That looks awesome Patrick. Can't wait til it blooms.

Jason
Royse City,TX
USDA Zone 8a

Looking ever so good, Patrick..... more pics when it blooms please !!

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

Any updates Patrick?

Canada 5b
Forum editing tech

Hi RA - it has just 3 blooms open on it at the moment. I've had to cut 2 robust shoots that rose up thru the center - they got too tall and were about to get caught up in the chain the basket hangs from. That removed the shade the leaves were providing for the fuchsias, whose leaves are now getting sunburnt. The results have been very mixed so far. I'm still hoping for an impressive flush that could redeem the experiment. I've taken a few pics, but will wait awhile before posting & see if things shape up better.

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Thanks Patrick.

Canada 5b
Forum editing tech

Well, first day of Fall and my Brug-in-a-Basket finally has a respectable flush. Not a huge success, but it's been a fun experiment. This would look better & photograph easier if I had an arbor or pergola to display it better - other plants are crowding it here & I'm not able to take a pic that has the entire plant in it.





last image is from the opposite side, standing on the porch:









Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Patrick, I would have to dub this experiment a huge success..... that is beautiful. Any thoughs of trying other brugs in this fashion???? The spring storms broke a small limb off Harlot and not having time to do otherwise at the moment just stuck it inground. It is now only about 15 inches high and blooming again for the second time. I think she would work well for one season in a basket.

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

Patrick, that is beautiful! What foresight to plant those three in a basket together! Thanks for sharing.

very nice, a very nice looking combination.

Sally
Zone 5b
heat zone 4
Enfield Connecticut



http://community.webshots.com/user/sallycummings

Canada 5b
Forum editing tech

It turned out very nice. The Fuschia looks like it got enough shade & the Bacopa & Brug enough sun. I think it's a great way to display cuttings that you know are above the Y. Much better than having the blooms dragging on the ground. I will have to try your flower combination if I do another one, mine was all by itself & it did look a little bare at the end of the year.



Linda
Western MD
Zone 5b

Thanks everyone, it's been a fun experiment. I would love to have a structure that would display a basket like this to its best potential. If you try one yourself, I suggest a brug that tends to branch horizontally...that's half the challenge. Otherwise, you may need to add weights to the branches to pull them down into a desired position. This is probably a 1-year project, as I think the brug will outgrow the pot. Mine has pushed the root ball up about even with the rim of the pot - when I water, a lot of it overflows. If I had a tall stump or a large column, etc, I might transfer this to a larger pot for next year.

Linda, you're right about this being a good way to use cuttings from above a Y. Very often, those are growing mostly in 1 direction, so you might want to plant separate cuttings on opposite sides of the basket. Mine was actually a cutting of a trunk with its Y's intact - I kept only about 10" of the top of the trunk below the lowest Y.

I'm going to scope out my Gemini plant. It has stayed a very managable size...if the branches are horizontal enough, it might make a really good candidate for this application. Well, here I go again! I'm already picturing ways of hanging a new basket somewhere else.



Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

That sort of 'picturing' in our minds is what what helps us through the winter months Patrick.

Canada 5b
Forum editing tech