February 2012 Archives

Looking at the photo below you would never guess that this Angel Trumpet seedling was snow white for a couple of days before turning gold overnight.  The cross is Brugmansia Orange Sunshine x Pink Smitty.
Here's what this seedling looked like the previous day, snow white without a hint of color. Reflecting back it was sort of funny because at the time I was examining it and trying to determine if this white brugmansia was worthy of keeping.

I carried this seedling over from 2010 but had completely forgot about it until it just came into bloom. I grew out almost an entire seed pod from the cross I made between Brugmansia Orange Sunshine x Pink Smitty.  I decided to do this to document the resulting variations of blooms to come out of a single cross. With Brugmansia Orange Sunshine as the pod parent, I knew I would most likely end up with a bunch of ordinary single whites, and I sure did!

It really became quite an eye catcher when the blooms fully colored up.

Here's a set of comparison photos.  The photos above and below are of the same blooms, just taken at a different time with a different camera angle.

When a new Angel Trumpet seedling produces single pink blooms, it really has to stand out to get my attention. This new seedling did just that. It is from a Volker Sanders cross involving Brugmansia Color Point x (Double White x Double Dark Rosetta).
The long lasting, wide bodied blooms were a vibrant pink, with the pink color extending all the way up the corolla tube as the bloom matured. 

I really like the way this seedling's first blooms were displayed in a cluster at the top of the plant.

I plan to carry this one forward through the summer to see how it performs.

Look at the perfect shape of this Angel Trumpet bloom on a new seedling from a cross I made between Brugmansia Painted Lady x Mon Amour de Mareuil.

I captured these photos last week when the weather was cooler.  I'm certain the pink color will deepen in warmer weather and we should see much less green in the corolla tube.

I 'm anxious to see how this seedling evolves this spring. I really like the form of this medium sized bloom.  If the corolla tube colors up it will be a winner for sure.

Here's another new white Angel Trumpet seedling that recently impressed me with its blooms. This one is from a cross I made between Brugmansia Ludger's Windsong x Naughty Nick.
Even though the parent's bloom yellow and orange respectively, the blooms on this seedling are snow white and quite showy.  I feel this seedling is worthy of at least watching for a few more bloom cycles before deciding its fate.  What I decided to do is group the white seedlings I'm watching together and wait to see if any of them really stand out from the others.  I'm sure I'll find a couple of keepers in the bunch.

I'm just wrapping up a week long stay in the San Diego area.  The primary reason for the trip was to attend the Triathlon America Conference, a conference geared for the business of triathlon. Seeing how I was going to be so close to California's nursery region, I had to tack on a few extra days to my trip to do some plant collecting. 

I only made a few acquisitions the first day, but by late morning on the second day, I already had the back seat of my rental car full.

After day two I decided I needed to stop because I had also filled up the front passenger seat. I knew I was somehow going to have to pack all my newly collected plants up in my luggage to bring back to Florida.  At the conference hotel I was fortunate to have a ground floor room with a nice patio.  This allowed me to easily store my collection of plants outside in the shade during the entire conference.
In preparation for my departure tomorrow morning, this afternoon I removed as much soil as possible from all the plants and made sure all the plants were labeled with long-lasting aluminum plant tags.  Below you will see most of the plants lined up and waiting to be packed into suitcases.  I plan to leave them out like this in the cool moist air tonight, and then pack them up for travel first thing in the morning.
Once I return to Florida they will be re-potted and held for a few weeks to make sure they acclimate and survive.  Then most will get planted in their new permanent home in my yard. A few will stay in containers in my shade house for me to play with later this summer.

I'm sure you are wondering why I'm going to all this trouble to brig plants back with me all the way from California.  Unfortunately in Florida most garden centers and big box retailers carry the same old common plants. Many of the plants I'm bringing back are Australian and African plants that you will never find in Florida. They all will take the heat and I think most should have a good chance of surviving in our climate.  The only unknown is what impact our extreme humidity in late summer will have on them. 

Many of my Brugmansia seedlings are switching into bloom mode for the first time and now the challenging task of deciding which ones are worthy of watching begins.  Here's one from a cross I made between Brugmansia Cherub x Orange Parfait.

It has a simple elegant look to it, but I'm not certain it is special enough to carry forward.  I'll probably watch this one for a few more bloom cycles to see how it performs as the seedling matures.

Here's another nice Angel Trumpet seedling from the cross I made between Brugmansia Angels Exotic x Inca Sun.As you can see it has a completely different bloom form and color than that of its sibling, Brugmansia (Angels Exotic x Inca Sun) #4, I posted yesterday.  So far the blooms on this seedling have remained snow white with separated corolla skirts.

I decided to place this one in my watch zone and plan to cross it back to it's double yellow brother the next time it blooms.  I'll also be crossing it back to its father, Inca Sun, in hopes of strengthening the color genes in the next generation of seedlings.


I still have many more seedlings from this cross that have yet to bloom.  I'm certain I'll be surprised by the blooms on a few more of them. 

I was pleasantly surprised last week to find golden blooms on one of my Brugmansia Angels Exotic x Inca Sun seedlings.

I'm growing out a bunch of Angel Trumpet seedlings from this cross and so far most have been white or cream colored.  The blooms on this one started out cream, but matured to more of a creamy yellow color.  The blooms are also smaller than most brugmansia blooms. I expect this one to be a good bloomer, just like its parents.  The fact that it impressed me with a mini-flush of 8 blooms for its very first bloom cycle is a good sign of what to expect in the future.
I plan to watch this one for a few more bloom cycles to see what the color does as the weather warms up.  Meanwhile I decided to cross this seedling back to both its parents, something I often do with first generation seedlings.  I'm hoping to develop a nice double yellow/orange brugmansia with the bloom form of Angel's Exotic and the ever-blooming qualities of Inca Sun.

Here's another Angel Trumpet seedling I have been watching for a couple of years and now think it is worthy of keeping.  The cross is Brugmansia Adeline x Rosalie.
I like the deep pink color on this one and the fact the color runs all the way up the corolla tube. This plant has been a consistent bloomer and the blooms are always in perfect form.  This seedling has combined the best traits of both parents and it shows in its blooms.
I've made several crosses with this seedling as the pod parent.  Once I harvest the seed pods this spring I'll make the final decision on whether this seedling should be named and registered.  What do you think?

I've been watching this Angel Trumpet seedling grow and bloom for the past two years and decided it is ready to be moved from my watch zone to keeper status.  This seedling resulted from a cross I made between Brugmansia Pink Smitty x Rubirosa.

This seedling has plenty of good traits, one of which is that it is a bloomaholic.  It is also a fast grower and has remained relatively pest free here in Florida and thrives in the heat.

A recent bloomer in my brug house was this seedling from a cross I made between Brugmansia White Cloud x Pink Smitty.
While the blooms may not be super special, they are thick textured and long lasting.  Right now they are a soft pink color so we'll have to wait a few months to see if the color deepens in warm weather.

This one will most likely be placed in my farmers market group.  That group contains plants that are too nice to compost.  I may sell those at a couple of farmers markets or plant sales this spring.  I'll also take cuttings from this group to give away to members of the International Brugmansia & Datura Society (iBrugs.com) soon. 

A few weeks ago I started my second greenhouse project for Sommer Gardens, a new hoop house.  This project followed the completion of a large shade house friends and I constructed during the holidays. While I really wanted to build a nice greenhouse with a heater and fans, finances dictated I switch to a less expensive hoop house kit.

The kit arrived on a 16 foot pallet, three quarters of a ton of tightly bound galvanized steel pipe ready to be assembled. Its new home was going to be an open air growing area on the north side of our recently completed shade house project.  This area had been cleared of plants earlier when the shade house was completed and the plants relocated inside it.

The first step was to level the land.  The area had a 2.5 foot slope from one corner to the opposite corner.  Once the ground was fairly level we assembled the hoops and set the supporting poles in concrete around the perimeter.

The following day we installed a perimeter rail and raised the hoops.  The hoops were then secured with purlins to bind them together.  After that we constructed the end frames which further secured the structure and will eventually support a sliding door.


With the structure now complete, the sand floor was covered with ground cloth and the sprinkler system assembled.  I opted not to bury the sprinkler pipe in case I decide to change the sprinkler type down the road.  When completed, this hoop house will be used to grow out seedlings and plants for my online store that opens in a few weeks. I also be using it for propagation.

Check out this cool bloom on a new Angel Trumpet seedling from cross involving Brugmansia Bergzauber x Color Point.

The long corolla teeth and soft orange color give the bloom an appearance of a flame.

I like the looks of this one and plan to carry it forward in my watch zone this year.  I've already incorporated it into my spring breeding program both as pod parent and a pollen parent.