This is number 6 of 7 seedlings I've grown out from seed given to me from my good friend Dan. It did though have a valiant effort at flowering late last year but November was never going to show its true colour. So happily its bloomed earlier.
All seedlings are from the same seedpod, just different seeds,but all different in character and appearance.
This one because of the sheer number of buds pushing outwards had made the blooms face upwards, to 45 degrees.
It has a inner white corolla inside and again a great sweet marzipan scent ,and a prolific bloomer.
Hybridizing isn't an exact science , some might say it is..but the truth is that nature does not always bend to your will. But you can try...
So you grow in the hope that you can perhaps influence nature. Tweak it maybe. Sometimes the results can be amazing.
This particular cross was made from a mix of colours, a yellow and two pinks. So you think it might be the one with the stronger genes that will win through. Sometimes, more than often you get a white bloom. This isn't a total surprise, and the white gene is strong.
This one grown out by my good friend Terry is far from being a disappointment just being a white bloom. It has a strong scent, a bloom that lasts for days due to the firmness of the corolla. If you have ever smelt the stalwart Grand Marnier, this has that scent and is a smaller bloom, so in some ways to some a improvement.
A good white Brugmansia are often under appreciated, but like white roses in the garden, they seem to glow illuminated by the moonlight.
Being a coldie, my wife's Rioja likes the cooler climate of early spring and late fall/Autumn in which she is happy to bloom .
This is the first bloom of this season and darkens to a rich red with yellow veins.
One plant , two different blooms, both beautiful in their own right.
This very Brugmansia is in contention for an AGM ( Award of Garden Merit) by the RHS .
Even if it doesn't happen she is a star in the garden .
These are the first blooms of Zuni and really do change according to the conditions, they can be pale yellow to almost orange. Sometimes with a different coloured centre, other times a separated skirt or stuffed.
All this makes it a pretty special Brugmansia.
Rosalie just has attitude! From eye catching twangers
To nose in the air
to a horizontal bloom with poise and elegance .
I plan to use her pollen to add to other pink blooms. I hope to add her attributes to add structure and her horizontal blooming habit into brugs that are more pendant in nature.
Firstly a confession,
I'd love to take the credit that my cross was the result of my amazing hybridization skills and imagination , but in truth it was a bee.
It just so happens that at the time a single yellow called Buddy and a orange double called Dola Goldentrumpete( pictures on a earlier thread) were both in flower. I know so because sadly I keep a journal of what's budding, blooming and anything brug related like where a plant is located and how well it's doing. Like most plants, Brugmansias thrive in certain conditions, so its good to know for the following growing season . The journal is also great bedtime reading , not that it's boring you understand. For me it puts my thoughts back into the garden at the end of the day .
Anyway, the resulting cross and seedpod has so far yielded 3 registered Brugmansias.
All different, two doubles with different colours, and a orange single.
This is Angie Leigh
Angie Leigh is a yellow to tangerine coloured double, with a waxy corolla that lasts for days.
The scent is also amazing, being a strong sweet marzipan . It's a smashing hybrid, and I hope to get her out there by taking cuttings ( a subject for another day) so more people can enjoy her too in the future.
Yes we're talking ice creams..well colours anyway.
This is a seedling that I've been lucky enough to grow out from my buddy Dan across the pond. In Fact it is one of 7 seedlings of the same cross that I have.
I'm not obsessed you understand, well maybe a little, but its such a great cross and each seedling has been different. I will of course, elaborate as they bloom.
Back to Ice Cream, as a kid we loved both Neopolitan with its stripes of individual flavours and colours, and who doesn't love Raspberry Ripple?
So looking at this cross, M.E.W x Marley No 1 it has the very same attributes, and seeing it flower just takes me back to my childhood treats.
and I can't go without adding my love of backlight on a Brug to highlight it hidden treasures.
This is cross from my friend Didier Silvestre that I have grown from seed to mature flowering plant in the past two and half years.
Happily I have grown a flowering cutting which is now registered with Brugmansia Grower's International, named for my late father William George, for my family it will be simply called Bill. I think its a worthy Brug.
The main plant has been flowering since May this year, and just continues to dazzle in the sunshine.
