Many figs and Musa Basjoo are much hardier then brugs. I tried to over winter a few of my hardiest brug varieties in protected, well draining areas of my yard with a heavy mulch and not one made it. Unless you have a way of keeping the soil warm or have an unusual micro-climate I seriously doubt they'll survive zone 6. I grow a few fig varieties and have no problems, though I do wrap my trees to get earlier fruit production. You could always give it a try. Who knows, you might get lucky. Just make sure to take cuttings and root them inside.
Karyn

I was thinking about building a "house" for the brug, and if I can be sure to keep the roots from freezing, perhaps it will work. Maybe there is an inexpensive way to keep the soil warm.
manure/compost decomposing produces heat. perhaps an inground heater coil.

Dont know if the task outweighs the benefit..........

It sounds like an awful lot of trouble to go to when they over-winter so easily in a dormant state inside.
Karyn

well karyn1, I was thinking the same thing, unless the resulting plant was unusually spectacular.

Oxmyx:

I was thinking of trying some "heat tape" around a pot - in the ground - one plant - just to see if I could.

Gets brutal cold here - but if I could keep the POT and the roots from freezing - mulch the top - juuuuust to see what would happen.

May try that with one of my cranky whites. . . .

A few days before the first frost is predicted, I cut my brugs back to about a 6 inch stump. I chop oak leaves with the lawnmower and fill a black plastic flower pot with the chopped leaves. I then turn the pot upside down over the stumps and leave it for the winter. I've been doing this for many years. Some brugs are more cold tolerant than others and you will lose a few. But you take your cuttings and save them for spring replanting of those you lose. I've got Jean Pasco, Butterfly, a white, Ecuador pink and a versicolor pink which keep coming back.

I also used leaf mulch and an inverted pot but I think that 7b is the limit of the hardiness zone for brugs.
Karyn

technodweeb, ....A woman after my heart (I think you said you had a husband) you said: "just to see if it will work"
My thinking exactly!

Dump the hubby and come live with me. :)

We tried the inverted leaf mulch-filled flowerpot idea here in Z7 and lost all but one of our dozen noname brugs. The one that survived is spectaular though and more than 8' tall. We are going to try again with larger pots and deeper surrounding mulch to see what happens.

LOL Oxmyx.

Someone (can't remember) said she had a Brug in MICHIGAN that survived the warm winter we had here. (I haven't heard if she said it came all the way back though.)

It was near her foundation in a sheltered area. That got me thinking about trying that with heat tape along the foundation.

And as I said - my cranky whites - who are JUST NOW setting little blooms - grrrrrrr - I may sacrifice one to try it. Wrap it in heat tape int he ground - maybe run it up into the mulch a little - put a "rose babushka" on it - and see if it comes through.

technodweeb
go for it, but take cuttings of your best brug. Do you need a yellow that turns to
golden peach,(color of your name) blooms last and stay partially open all day?

I will be posting a pict of this big plant in all its glory very soon if you are interested. might even make a 1 minute movie and post it on the web!
Cheers!
perhaps we can trade........

I have overwinted brugs in the ground here in coastal BC. I tried mulching, covering with a bucket, wrapping in some sort of insulation. I had a couple live, but they took so long the next spring to get going that they didn't amount to anything. However, I had taken lots of cuttings so I didn't care about the ones left in the ground.

Oxmyx:

That would be terrific! IÂm hoping some of mine are at "cutting" stage soon. They were all started this year but I think I could get something from above the "Y" for you. ItÂs going to be "green" stuff though.

Only my mutts are tall enough to cut from though. None of the "named" varieties are tall enough yet.

Dottyinduncan:

Took them a long time? Were they heated in any way to keep them from freezing? Or do you think itÂs just because they arenÂt meant to be outside and should come in, period.

As you said  take cuttings. (grin) It would be an experiment. And IÂd try it with one of the "whites" that have been thumbing their noses at me all season  no matter how I tried to help them. And theyÂre only just now taking pity on me and deciding to set blooms.