Thursday, May 5, 2016

THE BLOOMING

Last year, at just about this time, Lori, The Gardener of Good and Evil, gave me a rooted Brugmansia cutting. Never having grown one of these before I thought it prudent to do a little research to make sure I was going to give it the best conditions. I re potted and it put on lots of leaves during the summer but never produced any blooms. Then it spent the winter in the garage where it was sadly neglected. Finally when it was warm enough it was watered and brought outside. New leaves grew and then I noticed a branching of the stem.
Didn't I remember reading that the plant will not flower until it branches? Sure enough two flower buds began to form. It was going to flower.


There are three stems to the plant, two of which have already branched. Today I noticed the third one also branching. I'm going to have lots more flowers. This morning I counted 8 new flower buds.



On Sunday I had a group of ladies over and I proudly showed them the flower bud, as yet unopened. I really had no idea what color it was going to be, although Lori said peach.


Overnight the color changed to this gorgeous deep pink. It fits perfectly the description of one called Pink Dragon, so that is what I shall call it.


The plant sits in the corner by the front gate where it is protected from the afternoon sun. It is receiving 3 gallons of water twice a day. Not sure how this watering schedule will work when I go away.




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8 comments:

  1. ReneeMay 5, 2016 at 6:16 PM

    That's a lot of water! No wonder that mine doesn't bloom... Yours is very pretty!

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  2. danger gardenMay 5, 2016 at 9:43 PM

    So lush and lovely! Something has been eating the foliage on mine.

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  3. SueMay 6, 2016 at 1:53 AM

    Oh my-that is a lot of watering. But wow-the color is amazing!

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  4. NicMay 6, 2016 at 4:09 AM

    So much water, even with afternoon shade! The flowers are great, though!

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  5. Linda/patchworkMay 6, 2016 at 8:39 AM

    Beautiful.

    I didn't know they required so much water. They're in the same family as Datura, right?

    A beautiful peach Brugmansia is another one of the things my daughter has found in her new/old garden. Maybe I'll get a cutting from hers.

    Have a Happy Mother's Day.

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  6. TexasDebMay 6, 2016 at 9:22 AM

    Those blooms are gorgeous...worth two trips a day to water I'd say! I'll be interested to hear how the plant does long term. The flowers remind me of Datura's - so large and striking even from a distance, though Brugmansia easily wins for a more colorful display. If it can thrive with less water that will be a local winner!

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  7. Kris PetersonMay 6, 2016 at 11:00 AM

    It's very pretty! I have one sadly neglected specimen ('Charles Grimaldi') in a pot I rarely water - it suffers through that and doesn't bloom often but it's survived. I haven't been able to fully protect it from the ravages of the wind we get more and more frequently, though, so it's also rather tattered.

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  8. AlisonMay 7, 2016 at 10:37 AM

    They are water hogs. I have several, and they like their water even in this part of the country (PNW), where the weather is much rainier and milder than Texas.

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