Most of you who have read my blog for more than a post or two know I live in an area that can support tropicals for the most part, but that growing up north of here, I don't really have an affinity for the vast majority of them. We all have our likes and dislikes, and some of my favorite bloggers *gasp* hate coneflowers, which is as difficult to comprehend as the infinite space of the universe for me. Aside from houseplants which can grow back each year without coming inside, I only have one tropical love: the Brugmansia.
It actually started in Charleston, when I was walking around one September and came upon this small tree literally coated in foot long tubular blooms. The thing looked exactly like a Dr. Seuss tree in Seussville. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but I didn't. It looked something like this.
I somehow can also see each of the tubes playing like trumpets ala Alice in Wonderland. I had to have one.
I bought the very first one I ran across, about 1 foot tall, and a tiny sprig of a tree, in April. By May it was 4 feet tall, straight as an arrow, looking like a 4 foot tall woody weed. A few cuttings were taken off for relatives, which also rooted easily, but no flowers, and no branches. Then came July. The base had sprouted out a new limb, and the main stalk, now over 5 feet tall had V'd. Or more correctly W'd, and within a week of this happening I had 13 blooms on the thing in quick succession.
Mine was growing in the middle of my patio until early July when I decided that it had to move into some shade. It was flowering, yes, but the leaves were also burning and turning a not right very light shade of green, despite DAILY watering. So he's been moved until the end of September to the spot I have reserved for my statue that only exists in my imagination. Now I only have to water him every other day, and the leaves are turning green again.
Here's a picture of a 4 month old Brugmansia (ignore burnt leaves please). I can't wait til next season when I move him up a pot size and he becomes a real tree.
0 comments:
Post a Comment