Welcome to the forum Frances.
What gorgeous Brugs you have there!!!!

If I am not mistaken, it is not a good time anymore to get a brug planted in the ground for your zone. I hope others will chime in and give you answers to ALL your questions.

Lucy

Hi Frances,

Lucy's right. It's too late to plant them in the yard. Keep them inside and plant them in the spring so they'll have time to establish a good root system.

If you want to take cuttings to make new plants do it anytime before the first frost on the inground plant. Once the frost hits it you can cut it back (dispose of those cuttings) and mulch it.

You can take cuttings of your container plants whenever you want. Since they are big I'd allow them to go dormant in a cool dark area like the garage or basement. Stop all feeding about a month prior to dormancy. For the container plants you want to strip the foliage but cut it at the leaf base of the petiole, not flush with the trunk. The remaining stems will yellow and drop on their own. You can cut it back if you want or you can leave it be. Once you have it in a cool room cut WAY back on watering. Maybe a cup or so every 4 weeks just to keep the roots hydrated. Bring the plant back into a warm lighted area in the early spring and begin watering and feeding. You can then plant it outside when the temps warm up. You could also keep the container plants growing thru the winter if you want but I think it's easier to allow them to go dormant.

If you've taken cuttings you can keep them in water thru the winter or you can pot them up. That's up to you. If you are going to keep them in water either use an aerator or change the water frequently. The new cuttings need to be kept growing throughout the winter.

Your brugs look great.

Thank you very helpful!

So I keep cuttings in water, do they grow in the water? need light?

Indoors is just not an option for the plants, (my house is small, no basement, shed or garage and I have very little interior light). I could probably keep some cuttings going on a windowsill. I barely have enough light inside to sustain a few low light tropicals with gro-lights.

We still have 5 - 6 weeks before we can expect a hard frost here, maybe longer. I guess I will take my cuttings and bury the pots (this is what I usually do with anything that I think might not survive winter) Bury the pot in a sheltered location, Fill a second pot with clean dry leaves and place over the buried pot. put a brick on top to prevent squirrels from messing with it.

It has worked for mandevilla, EEs, caladium.

Thanks again for all your advice.

Frances

The cuttings will grow in water. You can keep them on a windowsill or something similar. Burying the pots just might work. If you take cuttings at least you'll have them if the potted ones don't make it.

Frances- Welcome!

In zone 7, you can do for brugs what you do for your EE' and Caladiums. Just cut the brugs down to about 10-12" and cover with leaves and pot. This is what I do to, in North Georgia.

I know your pink brugs are NOIDs, but the first one looks like Pink Beauty and the second one looks like it has 7 or 8 points, most brugs have 5. I can't open the photos to get a better look.
Very pretty! Congrats on being a good mommy to your brugs!

Thanks everyone, I am actually so close to Zone 8 here that I seem to get away with a lot of tropical mischhief that folks tell me won't work!

Close up of the yellow bloom, actually starts out butter yellow and ages to a soft apricot colour
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This is the BIG one, Was labeled 'Pink Masterpiece'

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This is the NOID plant, it has 6 points on the flower, I really didn't know that they usually have 5! how cool is that?!?!
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frances , what part of north carolina do you live ? i have found several that do great for me as a perennial in zone 7b (winston-salem ) . super nova , creamcycle , candida double white , shredded white , french1 ,if you can locate it , mars rose .....

i hope you are enjoying the forums, this site is great !!!!!!

happy gardening
eddie

Hi Eddie

Thank you! I am really hoping to find a white one this year. That list will come in handy!

I am just west of Charlotte in Gastonia. Just a couple of minutes from the SC border. There are a lot of Brugs growing as perennials in this area but they do die back to the ground. The yellow one (first pic above) has been in the ground a year now.

The man who sold it to me had a dozen or more TREE size brugs growing in his yard just a couple of miles south of here.
Thanks again
Frances

Why can't I just be half a zone warmer? Maybe in another 20 years. lol

karyn ,
i have a friend that lives in zone 7 but really close to 7b and she gets her jamacian yellow and jamie to come back every year . i think she mulches it heavy .

frances , do you ever go to daneil stowes botanical gardens ? did you take the pics posted on therendering.com ? what great pics !!!!
eddie

karyn
I agree with eddie, mulch works wonders! (the pot full of leaves is an old trick I learned gardening in Zones 4-5) its amazing what you can keep going in the south, just gotta check now and again for 'home invasions', blasted bugs and squirrels never take a break here!!!

eddie
I bought that first Brug on the way home from Daniel Stowe, its about 10 minutes away from here! Love it, just waiting for the humidity to break so I can go again. The orchids are fabulous! Yes I took those photos (really need to get some new ones added! Thanks so much for looking!

Frances

I'm barely 7a and have tried for years to over winter brugs inground. I've picked protected, well draining areas and used loads of mulch, inverted pots, etc but they never make it. It's not only the cold but we have very moist winters and the cold & wet does them in. I have friends on the Easten Shore that can winter their brugs over. They are also 7a but being near the water they don't get the constant freeze and thaw of the soil plus their soil is so sandy.

Hi Frances & welcome! Nice to know someone is nearby- I'm in NC zone 7b too- just a bit north of you here in Mooresville... I have successfully overwintered my established brugs inground for 3 years now, and so do my neighbors- just to encourage you- & you are a bit further south of me & so you have even a greater chance of doing it too! I do mulch them, but I also have sandy soil amended with plenty of rotted horse manure & sawdust...which helps for drainage- which they need in winter, or they can rot...
check out the post which I think Karyn wrote, about starting brug cuttings in sheeted sphagnum peat moss & plastic.... I'm going to try that this year... brug cuttings are famous for rotting in water- I lost most of my cuttings that I received from trades last year that way.... good luck & nice to hear from you!
kasha77

Hey Frances! Its so good to see you here! I hope you remember me. You did my ~Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet~ round robin in '07. I remember you were looking for drought-hardy plants because of the lack of rain we were having here in NC. I'm glad you have been able to grow some brugs and have water! LOL. It seems like its either feast or famine around here. I'm loving your pictures. Your plants look very healthy.

~Suzie~

Hi Suzie!
I sure do remember you and your FUN swap! Boy has it been that long! My first two years gardening in the Carolinas without a drop of water! and this year the plants don't seem to know what to do with it!

Kasha77
Mooresville is not far at all! We used to go there quite abit when we lived in Statesville 5 years ago!

I am going to plant all the big ones in the garden and try to keep some cuttings 'just in case'

I also have a seedling I started last March or maybe Feb, it is about a 1 1/2 feet tall and has filled up a 2 gallon pot with roots! Can't wait to see what kind of flowers it will have!

Best get back to work!

Frances

Hi Frances,
Someone else may have mentioned this, but I have much better luck getting cuttings through the winter if they are large in diameter and woody than if they are soft and green. The small, geen ones always rot for me.
Anne