I'd wait to mulch until temps have cooled for good. That's usually Nov in my area. I can't winter them over here but a good way to protect marginally hardy plants is to use an inverted clay pot filled with shredded leaves over the plants. I think the most important thing is to make sure the soil where the plants are located is very well draining. It's the cold, wet roots that rot and die.

Like in the 40's? Thanks Karyn for the info. I think cost would be prohibitive (in buying that many clay pots) Do you think a layer of cardboard, then mulch / leaves would work? I have fast draining sandy loam soil, so maybe they won't get too wet and rot. The trick would be in trying to keep the leaves from blowing away. Any other suggestions?
Thanks!
Kathy

Kasha, with so many...why not take cuttings from some of them
and even pot up a few. That way, you won't lose them all if
we have an extremely cold winter.
Margaret

Hi Margaret-
Thanks- I am definitely taking cuttings of all of them, but my plants inground are so huge that I don't have room for everything. I only have a half basement of a tiny cottage. I am hoping to trade many cuttings for varieties that I don't already have.
kasha77

Zone 7 is sort of the transition zone for brugs in the ground. In a warm 7B they may make it most years. Up in zone 7A (my zone) they don't usually, but if they do they take forever to come back and bloom.

Soooo, where you live will be a factor. To be safe, I would cut the plants back nearly to the ground, mulch, then place a large sheet of black plastic over the area to keep rain/snow out. Then mulch some more -- or you could mulch and turn a large ceramic pot over the plant or a large styrofoam rose cone.

Clay and ceramics work well because they retain and radiate the heat from the sun but a good mulching should work. You could use shredded leaves and cover that with nugget type mulch to keep them from blowing away or just use mulch instead of leaves. I don't know if I'd cover the area with anything that's not permeable to air and water. I use black plastic to kill anything that's growing, above and under the soil. When using it in a garden I always have holes where the plants are. I've never tried it for winter protection but Dave had a good point. If you are in 7a I wouldn't count on your brugs surviving the winter inground. If you are in 7b, close to 8a, you shouldn't have a problem. I can't remember where you are located. If it's in the Carolina's or Georgia they should be fine inground. I've tried overwintering brugs inground in just about every location in my yard and they've never survived, even in a protected area near the brick walls. It's just too cold and damp here and the heavy clay soil doesn't help.

I'm in Mooresville, NC, zone 7b, 1 hour north of Charlotte in the Piedmont area. I've only been growing brugs here for 3 years. My neighbors have so so success in overwintering inground, depending on how good they mulch and on how severe our winters are. The larger the brugs, the hardier they are through the winter. I think you are right about mulching deeply and then covering with a pot that has been stuffed with leaves. They'll warm with the sun, and keep the rain out. They have holes so can let a little bit of moisture in. I'm taking many cuttings for security and for trades, but I'm going to chance leaving the big brutes out there with ample coverage. I almost lost my small Pindo Palm last winter, it died back, but put out new leaves in the spring. I guess I'll have to build a box around it this winter, but that's another story. My Hawaiian white ginger does fine next to the house. Guess it depends on the micro climates around my yard.
Thanks again for all your advice, I'll try anything! Anyone else out there with experiences they'd like to share? I'd really appreciate it!
Thanks!
kasha77

{{gwi:556969}}

I was thinking of using a cover crop over my beds of brugs. I could sow the seed in the cool days of fall, they could grow to a good stand, then die when winter comes, leaving a thick matted blanket to cover the surface of my beds. I've done this before, but not alongside my underground brugs. Any thoughts?
kasha77

Hi Kasha, That's quite a collection you have going there.
This year I'm trying something new. I have a few year old root balls I want to keep, as they do grow so much better the next year then their first but also because I don't have the room to grow a cutting of each throughout the winter. My new idea is to use those big rubber maid totes. I can't keep the covers on for stacking purposes due to guaranteed mold, but I can get about 4-6 1 year old root balls, stacked in each and not worry about the messes I usually have. The bottom ones will have to be cut right down to an inch or so but it'll work. I'd of used a tarp underneath my bagged pots and root balls had I known that water would seep out. I just hope these roots are good and thick (about magic marker thick, at least some) when I take them out or I'm in trouble as they'll need to be potted with soil around them. Last year I pulled bare root noid single whites through with no soil, just bagged, sealed around the lowest point of the stalk/stem.

Last year I went through the trouble of trying to keep above the Y for two reasons. 1) To keep a good sized tree which worked of coarse and 2) In the hope of early blooms, which due to record breaking brutal heat, I did not get. Tree sizes are very big for my garden space anyway, as now I have more specimens, so I don't mind not keeping the stalk/stem on most.

The link below has some helpful pictures. Some are double pictures as I made a slide show and needed doubles for explaining purposes. It's there to.
Good Luck, you certainly worked hard enough for them. -Sandy

Here is a link that might be useful: Some pictures of prior year storages

Thanks Sandy!
I will store my favorite brugs in pots in my tiny half basement, but I don't have room to take up the 200 some brugs that are in my garden. That's why I want to find some way to leave them in the ground. We'll be fine with a simple mulch covering if we have a normal winter, but now a days, you just never know what weird weather we'll get! I will again be starting cuttings on my 12' strip of reptile heating mat under lights. Last year I was able to start over 150 cuttings in picnic cups that way. I wanted to sell them on Ebay this summer, but they didn't move, so I decided to enjoy them myself and filled both sides of my driveway with them, 2 feet apart! I can't wait to see them bloom!
I did use several of your techniques last winter, like Debbie Meyers green bags, and the water crystals. Actually, I cheated & used diaper gel. The key in using them is not getting them too wet. It will make the cuttings rot and STINK! Thanks for your thoughts!
kasha77