Sad times of the year for sure. Fortunately for me a couple have hung on to and started new inflos so at least Im getting a few flowers.

Where do you keep yours Lonnie?

Mike

Bummer is right! Everything looked so lush last month, and we got that great rain, but when I went out this morning two Veracruz Rose seedlings had shed nearly all their leaves overnight.

We probably got down to 42 for maybe an hour the other night--that's all it took! Lonnie, you and Mike must have had it much colder that night.

Celadine had started shedding, too. When I shook the little branches a bit, nearly every leaf fell off! Wildfire and Kimi Beauty (two dark reds, coincidentally) did the same thing. I guess they're ready for bed. Everybody else still looks happy.

Hi Guys!!

I stayed up until 2 am bringing in all of the trees last night. What a major pain... Sure am glad I cut the leaves off several weeks ago so the remaining stems could be wiped clean with a " swwwooooooossshhh... ". Lol!!

Can you believe I didn't wake anyone in the house either? I guess I have learned to greet the FedEx man in silence, so I can bring in trees in the " stealth" mode as well.. The only problem was the big boy!!! ;-). It was hard to get the Kapalua In Since it has grown and I went up in size ( container). But it was worth the tug and pull and inching it into the house through the sliding glass doors... It really was a sight to see. I think I would have laughed at myself ..

All of my trees are not in the final resting area, but they are in the living room, great room and other areas. The greenhouse is packed since we had temps dip down to 40 degrees last night. Had to do the mad dash to keep them sheltered from the cold.

I hear you Lonnie.. Hi Jen!!! Hey Mike!!!

Some of my Noids are not VW's but they sure are " Mini Coopers.." They are just to big .

Hope everyone is getting ready for the dip in temps The next few days...I'm sure you are feeling the cold in OK, TX now... this is what is to come in the next few days for us here on the east coast...

Heading to the pharmacy to get a case of " eye drops". Another needed staple for the winter!!! ;-)

Brrrrrrr...

Take care,

Laura

Awwww. I hear you on the temps dipping. Here in So Cal it's not too bad yet- I'd say around 55 or so.
Laura- thanks for the visual on taking in your beauties!! Lol

Chuy

Mike, I keep them in a spare bedroom over the winter.
I place painters plastic sheeting on the floor and stack them up for the winter. They have grown so much this year I hope they all fit. I've attached a pic from last year.
I have several with inflos TLD had just begun to bloom about a month ago.
Lonnie

Hey laura

Sounds like it was a busy night. Goodness how big is Big K Now? Must be a monster.

Hey Jen. I almost got to see some brug flowers. They got so close. I dug it up sunday. I cant believe how fast these things grow!! I bet it will be 8 feet tall or better next year.

Lonnie, that is quite a collection. Mine will go in the front room soon. I have a spare bedroom that would be perfect but I dont want to lug them all up the stairs. I am having back and knee issues right now so downstairs it is.

Mike

The brugs are loving the cooler weather. Our Texas summers are hard on them.
Lonnie

Nice Lonnie. So do you think I pulled my too early? They still looked great and had some flower pods but I was afraid the mid 30's would damage them. Even though now it appears we may not go below 40 for awhile. My first winter and I didnt want to risk losing one. I did start some new cuttings just in case.

Mike

As long as you can prevent them from freezing you're OK. They love the cooler weather. Their ideal temps are 50 - 80.
Most of mine do not bloom during the heat of summer.
I leave mine in pots and store them in a non heated shed over winter. Some people in North Texas and south, plant in the ground, trim them before a freeze and mulch them heavily. They come back each year. I just haven't decided where to plant one yet.
They are also very easy to water root cuttings.

Lonnie

My second year seedlings need to be brought in, but I'm not sure what to do with them. They look too large for their puny 1.75qt pots, and all but one are either branching or have inflos getting ready to bloom.

Should they be allowed to go dormant? If not, can they be repotted or should I wait until spring? I'm afraid they may be too large and topple over in their current pots.

This post was edited by vajeff on Tue, Oct 22, 13 at 16:32

I doubt it will get below 50 in my back yard. I have a few that drop green leaves like crazy after a cool night. Mostly reds and hybrids like Candystripe.

I'll hold off until early December before moving mine into the greenhouse. I am actually looking forward to digging up the in ground plants and seeing the roots.

Seeing your brugmansias, printmaster, I just remembered that my plumies are doing better now than in the extreme heat we've had this summer, when they were all shrivelled with all my watering. Now they're all plumped back up and the foliage looks better except for the biggest one that had some wind damage with Santa Ana winds. Meaning the leaves look like something chewed on them but we don't have any critters to chew so I figured out what happened: the leaves were hit repeatedly by smaller branches from the out-of-the-patio plants. Now I moved her closer to the other plants, in the middle of the patio.
But they all look so much better, and pushing leaves out like crazy. :)

Mima

Mike, I've heard the same about brugs, that they can be left in the ground and cut back. You know that variety I sent you is vigorous, so maybe you can chance one in-ground next winter and see what happens in your zone. Bummer about not being able to see those blooms this year, though :(

Vajeff, you'll find that some of your seedlings will go dormant while others may not. I'd put them in much bigger pots at this age, but wait until after flowering. Great job getting inflos!

Jen,
How are your brugs doing?

I have a ton of inflos on my plumeria. I'll trim all leaves and leave the inflos. They are usually ok, and get a jump start for next years blooms.
Lonnie

Jen

you arent kidding about vigorous. The one i put in the ground went crazy! I did start some new cuttings off of it before I dug it up. They are already rooting in the greenhouse. I think I will try and leave on in the ground next winter. Cant hurt since these things go crazy.

Thanks again for sharing them with me.

Mike

Hi Lonnie! I sent you an email last week but I guess it didn't get through? All my brugs are doing great now that it's cooler. Still didn't see any blooms but I'll be putting some in the ground next spring. Hopefully they'll cope better with the summers here then.

Thanks, jandey. Since all of them had actively growing new branches, and two had inflos (a third seems to have aborted before being dug up), I went ahead and sunk their pots in much larger pots for winter growing. So far, so good... except one didn't care to be moved and wilted pretty bad but has since perked up.

Thanks again!