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Mutant in paradise... Mutant in paradise...

Mutant in paradise...

Last season I ramped up my brugmansia hybridizing efforts using brugmansias with mutant and deeply serrated foliage.  The results of those...
Just what I need, another garden vice... Just what I need, another garden vice...

Just what I need, another garden vice...

Just what I need on my already overflowing plate, another garden vice! I'm totally swamped with my brugmansia hybridizing program  yet I...
An elegant brugmansia seedling earns keeper status An elegant brugmansia seedling earns keeper status

An elegant brugmansia seedling earns keeper status

I've been watching this brugmansia seedling perform for several years now and decided it was time to make it a keeper!
Looking back into the past.... Looking back into the past....

Looking back into the past....

It is hard to imagine that it has been nearly 5 years since I was actively posting to my garden blog. Today is the start of a new era as I commit to...
Introducing Brugmansia 'Audrey Lea' Introducing Brugmansia 'Audrey Lea'

Introducing Brugmansia 'Audrey Lea'

Brugmansia 'Audrey Lea' is a recent Sommer Gardens introduction with nearly red double blooms.  When you see the photo album below...

Fred's Garden Blog

After a nearly five year hiatus, Fred's Garden Blog is back! Now you can enjoy and experience the gardening exploits and adventures of Fred in his quest to hybridize brugmansia and keep his jungle and nursery under control.

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Brown, brown and more brown...

This is a continuation of yesterday's post showcasing an assortment of freeze damage plants from my yard.I'm not sure if my monstera suffered stem damage or if just the foliage was damaged. This beautiful purple orchid tree was just about ready to bloom. I know I will have to cut it back at least half this spring. Anyone who grows passion flower vines knows what a challenge it is to keep them under control. Maybe this freeze was a blessing in disguise for this one. This ...
Categories:Uncategorized
/ Author: Sommer Gardens / Number of views: 8760 / Comments: / Article rating: No rating

Frozen Florida Orange Juice Anyone?

With record setting cold blanketing Central Florida this week, nothing was spared from Mother nature's wrath.This orange tree happened to be on the outer fringes of my outdoor brugmansia growing area and got caught by my sprinklers during the sub freezing weather.  The sprinklers were on to provide a protective ice blanket for my brugmansia during the freezes.  I'm not sure if it has gotten cold enough to damage the citrus yet, but many of my brugs took a beating.  We have a hard freeze ...
Categories:WeatherRamblings
/ Author: Sommer Gardens / Number of views: 9390 / Comments: / Article rating: No rating

Brugs on Ice...

My field of Angel Trumpets has turned into a Winter Wonderland as the icicles glisten under the Florida sunshine.Of course this is no Winter Wonderland for me, it is devastating to say the least. It is too early to tell what the extent of the freeze damage is, plus another hard freeze is forecast for tonight with more cold weather moving in on the weekend.With temperatures finally above freezing, the sprinklers are working hard to melt the protective cover of ice that was formed overnight. ...
/ Author: Sommer Gardens / Number of views: 11003 / Comments: / Article rating: 5.0

A giant Angel Trumpet with super-sized blooms

Here's an Angel Trumpet seedling carry over from last year.  It is a cross from brugmansia Pink Beauty x Native Habitat Double Peach.This brugmansia, with its  super-sized blooms, put on such a show last year that I just could not stand to toss it out.  This past Spring I planted it in my yard where it has been performing nicely ever since.The blooms start out white and then slowly age to a nice peach color.  While it is blooming you end up with white, peach, and in-between colored blooms on ...
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Mother nature wreaks havoc on my Angel Trumpets.

This year is off to a frigid start as cold air plummets south and puts Florida in a deep freeze.  We have already had two nights of below freezing temperatures and now the forecast shows below freezing temperatures through the weekend.This is how Rosalie looked this morning when I went out to check on my brugs.  I rely on sprinklers to protect a large percentage of my new seedlings.  I started the sprinklers at 1:00am last night and kept them on till 10:00am this morning.  It will most ...
/ Author: Sommer Gardens / Number of views: 7936 / Comments: / Article rating: No rating

Mounds of snow?

Thank goodness no, but the billowy white frost cloth sort of gives the appearance of snow mounds from a distance.With a long spell of cold weather in the forecast this week, I covered many of my in-ground brugs with frost cloth.  Hopefully this will provide a few extra degrees of warmth, enough to keep them from experiencing the freeze damage they would incur if I did not cover them. The large covered plant on the right in the photo below is a 8 foot tall Cherub.  It was just getting ready ...
Categories:Weather
/ Author: Sommer Gardens / Number of views: 7411 / Comments: / Article rating: No rating

I hate cold weather...and so do my Brugs!!!!

Well it looks like we are going to start the new Year off with a bang!  The National Weather Service has just issued freeze warnings for Sunday and Monday mornings.This graphic above is the forecast from AccuWeather.com.  I like Weather Underground's forecast better, a low of 31 for both Sunday and Monday mornings.  Two degrees can make a big difference with my Angel Trumpets.   I have found Weather Underground to be historically more accurate around here than AccuWeather.Well, I know what ...
Categories:Weather
/ Author: Sommer Gardens / Number of views: 7737 / Comments: / Article rating: No rating

I have sproutage!!!

After planting seeds from about 40 immature brugmansia seed pods I'm excited to report that about 1/3 already have seeds sprouting!  I'm sure more crosses will sprout in the next week or two.  This is way cool because I had some important crosses I was afraid I might have lost in the freeze.  There are at least 30 more seeds pods that were damaged in the freeze that I plan to plant next weekend. My guess is that I have about the same number that did not get damaged that are still growing on ...
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