I got home today and decided that I would dig up my Daydreams and put her in a pot since the heat was burning all of the leaves and buds. It finally Y'ed a few weeks ago. Sure enough it was not easy as she has been there for 3 years now. Of course, me being the greatly intelligent guy that I am, decided to dig it out with my sandles on. After all why change and put shoes on? As I got 1/4 of the shovel in the dirt around it I lost my balance and "snap" there goes her only branch. I have it rooting in a bucket of water on the porch now but am so angry that I have to wait longer now to see it bloom. All thats left on the in ground part is the stump that gets left behind before the freezes hit. Oh well hopefully it will send out some root shoots before the end of the year. I'm so angry at myself for trying to do it quick and not doing it the right way. Live and learn. Ok now that I have vented I feel a little better. Anyone else had a "duh" moment like this this year or is the 100+ degree temps just making me lose my marbles, lol.

Jason
Royse City,TX
USDA Zone 8a

Jason, I am so sorry you had a "mishap" of your own making, so to speak. If it will make you feel any better, my Daydreams is not blooming in this heat at all. Even Dr. Seuss, who loves the heat, is not putting on his usual show right now. He will be geared up and ready for cooler weather though.

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

Jason, I have a young plant of Daydreams I wish I could give you...it would probably bloom sooner than your "abused" plant. I keep catching myself just one step short of damaging a plant here or there...dragging the water hose around or flipping it to take out a kink. One of these days, my luck will probably run out.

We're having great "summer" weather...in the 70's & pushing 80. The brugs are loving it. I've seen quite a few buds & I hope the warm weather will push them along. It's been a long time since I've had brugs in bloom!

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

The weather here got so hot so fast! Many of my poor brugs are burned on all of the new growth. It looks like someone took a flame to them. The only blooms I am getting right now are from Adora and KBS X EP. My solid gold cutting I started this winter is puttting off some buds though and my Cherub and Flirtation are covered in tiny buds but I guess its just too hot for them to bloom. Atleast this year they're keeping most of their leaves, lush and green. I started watering only at night when the temps are cooler and feed 2-3 times a week instead of just once. It's helping but their still cooking. Should make for a good show in the fall, though. And a plus is that even though their not blooming well they are growing so I'll have lots of cutting material in the fall. Also most of my seed pods fell off and the seeds I managed to salvage didn't take but I do still have 3 (KBS X EP) X Dorthea pods and one Dorthea X Cherub pod holding tight. When they "hatch" I'll be happy to share with anyone who wants some. KBS X EP is really being a trooper with the heat, it surprised me. Even with 3 pods it has about a dozen flowers blooming right now with little damage from the sun. It smells so nice too like magnolia flowers. Reminds me why I keep feeding and watering so much, lol.

Jason
Royse City,TX
USDA Zone 8a

I am sorry for your mishap, Jason.
Patrick--how do you get blooms so early?? Mine are just growing leaves, and not looking like they are going to put out buds anytime soon. Maybe this warm weather will convince them. (Except for the poor dog-chewed plant, it is just trying to grow some more leaves.)

Jason, even my heat loving plants, like the tropical hibiscus and duranta have leaves turning yellow. This season has been so very strange for ALL my plants. My Tropical Giant Crinum is just now beginning to bloom and that is at least two to three weeks behind it's normal time of blooming. When we started having triple digit weather in June, they really did not know what to do .... they thought it was the dead of summer. So, keep up the good work of taking care of them, and we will have a show of blooms in the fall for sure.

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

That really stinks. At least you can take cuttings & hope it sprouts from the roots. I've knocked them over or had wind damage, DH bumped a planter into the ditch with his truck a few times, the dogs have chewed them up & the cats have had salad from the leaves. They're pretty tough when they're big so you should end up with at least 2 plants when you are done. Daydreams is one of my favorites.

The neighbor had people working on the fence between our properties. They guys said they weren't going past the Grape arbor on my side. I pointed out the tiny Brugs to them anyway & was pretty much ignored (crazy plant lady). I came out the next day & there were 2x4s propped up to hold the new posts straight until the concrete dried. They were on the side of the Grapes where they said they weren't going to be & they crushed 3 of my new seedlings (nice crosses of course). I was mad enough to spit nails. They were only about 4" tall & had little tags next to each one. I cussed up a storm. On top of that, rabbits came in where the fence panels were down for 3 days. They ate all my Peas that were just covered in pods. 3 4x16' square foot raised beds & I didn't even get back as many as I planted. By the time the fence was finished, the Peas were history. The good news was they were so busy eating Peas, they didn't touch the Cabbage or anything else. I wish the rabbits would eat a couple nice bites of Brug, that would teach them!



Linda
Western MD
Zone 5b

Selma, for the most part, it's my more mature plants...say, 2 years or older, that are showing buds. Mind you, most won't be popping open just any day now; they're pretty small. L'Amour has the only sizable buds...2 or 3 that may pop in about a week. I'll have to watch, tho, as I think she's the one that really stalls her buds until more catch up, then opens them all at once.

A question for you, Selma. Did the growing tips on your plants survive winter storage, or are the plants having to put out new ones? That might be one cause of no buds yet. Do look closely, however. I often spot the buds when they are tiny.

I just did a walk around with a cup of coffee...the warm weather, fertilizer & lots of water have most of the brugs finally showing very active growth. Lots of little buds starting to appear. If our summer weather doesn't fizzle out on us before it should, it should be a really good year for the brugs. I have my fingers crossed, after last year's mediocre showing.

One brug I'm excited about is Miss Emily Mackenzie. She really struggled last year and put out no new branches or basal shoots. She's looking very good at the moment and has at least 2 or 3 basal shoots coming along. She's a big time favorite of mine. Oh, speaking of favorites...Peanut is showing great promise this year, too. It barely made it thru the winter of 07-08 and finally made some growth last year. It looks very good now and already has a few buds visible. Yippee!

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

So sorry to hear of your mishap Jason, but I have to say, it sounds exactly like something I would do. I am forever getting out into the dirt digging around in whatever shoes are on my feet, usually because I don't want to take the time to change them. It is such a bummer to have to wait to see the blooms. I have bent over a couple new brugs. already this summer and snapped the top out, that's because I am out of garden room so I have pots of brugs. sitting everywhere.

Patricia
Livermore, Calif.
San Fran. Bay area

Patricia, we'd love to see pics! It doesn't have to be a brug show place...we just love to see other people's brugs growing & blooming. I am nearly finished up-potting and placing my brugs for the season. My seedling plants...now in their 3rd season!...had better bloom this year or they're getting the axe. I have one area where I've placed only seedlings and some of them are about 7' tall (pot and all). Because they're so tall, I'm sinking the pots about 4" - 6" in the ground so the roots will go out the drain holes and anchor the pots in the ground. It's a lot of extra work, but I think it will prevent blow-overs.


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

Patrick, the three that survived my winter storage never died back at the tips, and their leaves are big and green. If my plants start to die at the tips, they just melt back to nothing and are history. Hopefully they should like this warm weather we are having (this is the weather I moved up here to get away from!!).

Well, Selma, guess you can see my temp is still at 91 degrees at ten o'clock. Not a good thing for getting brugs to bloom.

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

Selma, can you post some pics? Everytime I'm about to make a guess, I think about other possible issues. Pics would likely narrow down the options.


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

Jason, I thought of you today. I was sinking more brug pots into the ground and was using a long-handled hoe. I had to be really careful to avoid whacking other brugs while I was manuevering the hoe.

I also have this little devilish side...I would love to hear what Dolores would have to say about your mishap! Gotta love that woman - she's such a character!



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

Jason, tell us how everything is doing in this heat? Did Daydreams root right away for you?

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

Patrick Dolores just laughed and asked for another piece ,lol, she has about 4 pieces that i have accidently broken off already. Carrie it is starting to grow back and the branch burned about half way down but did root so should make for a nice plant in a pot. This is one of my most stubborn plants to kill. It continues to grow nomatter how many times I have a duh moment, lol. I hope I still get blooms this year. Right now I have solid gold, eternity,cherub, flirtation, adora, nol, bernstein x rosalie, painted lady, kbs x ep, mountain magic, and peanut x mem budding for me and solid gold actually is blooming already. I love this flower its beautiful! I didn't expect it with the high temps we have had but it is definately a welcome surprise.

Jason
Royse City,TX
USDA Zone 8a