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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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Brugmansia Lady Liberty has a midnight visitor...

While out for my evening stroll through my Angel Trumpet forest, I was able to capture this beautiful moth paying a visit to Brugmansia Lady Liberty.I was hoping to get some close-up shots but this fellow skirted off in search of other blooms.  
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This tiny Angel Trumpet has earned keeper status

This tiny Angel Trumpet impressed me last fall, and now it is impressing me even more this summer. The cross is between Brugmansia Naughty Nick and Cleopatra. The blooms are petite, averaging 2-3 inches across, and are always perfectly formed.  They also hold up extremely well in the heat.  The summer blooms have stayed a creamy white.  In the cooler fall weather they aged with a light apricot color.Here's a link to my blog post last fall when I first introduced this seedling - Teeny Weeny ...
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The slime returns...

One good outcome from this past winter's severe cold is that I have seen very few giant slugs sliding across my Angel Trumpets this year.  It could just be because I have been more pro-active with baits to keep the snails under control this summer.  Baby slugs have a small shell so they could easily be mistaken for a type of snail, and they would certainly eat the bait.Tonight I came across several of the big mommas munching away on my yard brugs.Unfortunately for this gal I happened to have ...
Categories:Garden Pests
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My first exotic hibiscus from seed!

Last summer I decided to expand my hybridization hobby into exotic hibiscus.  During the course of the summer I accumulated almost 100 select cultivars for use in my breeding program.  Because most of these plants were small, I knew it was going to be a while until I would be able to make my own hibiscus crosses and harvest seeds.  Being anxious to try my luck at growing exotic hibiscus from seed, I opted to buy seeds from another grower rather than wait to create my own.  This past winter I ...
Categories:Hibiscus
/ Author: Sommer Gardens / Number of views: 9176 / Comments: / Article rating: No rating

An Angel Trumpet Sunset...

Florida has some of the most beautiful sunsets you'll ever encounter.  Here's some recent shots I took while strolling through my Brugmansia forest at sundown.It is almost as if the sky is on fire..Of course if I was living in southern California I would be afraid that the sky may actually be on fire...Sunrise and sundown are the best time of day to admire Angel Trumpets during our hot Florida summers.
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In search of the great sphinx moth...

The moths were out cruising around my Angel Trumpets in full force tonight.  I typically take an evening stroll through my field of Brugmansia with a LED headlamp on.  As you can imagine, that headlamp is a giant magnet for all sorts of flying insects.  Tonight I was running in circles trying to photograph giant sphinx months feasting on brug nectar.  I did not have much luck with the giants, but I did get some shots of their smaller and more passive relatives, the Tersa Sphinx. Here's one ...
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A perky Angel Trumpet for a hot summer night

While browsing through my Angel Trumpet seedlings last night I came across a perky little bloom from a Brugmansia Miss Ellie x Unknown cross.The bloom has a nice golden yellow color, like its mama Miss Ellie, and cute curly tendrils.  I think I'll hang on to this one and incorporate it into my fall breeding program.  It looks like a pesky housefly is hanging on to it too!  :)
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