The people at Avant Gardens have an excellent series of blog posts about this. Their blog is called Garden Foreplay, but it's a little hard to find the series there. I finally got to it using 'tender' in the search box (the link to 'wintering over tips' under the 'garden tips' button is broken).

Here is a link that might be useful: wintering over at GF

For 8 years i have cut my brugs back to just above a fork, and put them in my windowless 60 degree cellar for the winter, watering a few times during the winter. Repot w/ fresh potting soil and slow release fertilizer in spring. the end.

p.s. if you want more brugs, cut one of your removed trunks into 8-10" pieces and place in glass or water til they sprout. Pot these up and grow on in light.

best,
mindy

Wow, an 8 year old brugmansia? Wish I had a 60 degree cellar!

Ours is heated, and nothing survives ... except the spiders. I tried wintering over some plants the cellar bulkhead once, but it's on the west side of the house, and gets really hot on sunny afternoons. I'm left with an unheated (and actually, barely enclosed) garage where only the hardiest perennials survive, and that, only rarely.

so weird you would say that. I would give my eye teeth for an unheated garage. THAT is the answer to all my problems.or so says everyone. our root cellar, 1815, is not heated but because it is so tiny (the footprint of the original one room over one room schoolhouse) the freezers, water heater, furnace keep it at 60. Sue, in ct., puts her brugs in a closet and they do great. all my cannas in pots go down there; all my alocasia and colocasia and dahlias. phormium def NOT.
Is it possible you lost your unheated garage attempts because you didn't water them a few times over the winter?
best to you nan,
mindy

Not all unheated garages are created equal! Mine is not just unheated, it's very drafty; the doors are sliders, and they don't quite touch the floor. If the outside temp is 15, that's the temp inside - at least at night, or on cloudy or windy days.

I stuff the garage full of terra cotta pots in the winter, and let the soil dry out completely, so that the pots don't crack. At least I have a good place for my pot collection! Very occasionally, something green survives - hardy perennials that want to be dry when dormant.

My Mom got one this Spring. She planned on putting it in an unheated sunroom...it's unheated, but because of green house effect and heat leaking from the house it never quite goes below freezing. She'd planned on keeping it inside as a house plant there. Would that work, or does it need a dormant period?

goes dormant over winter in dark. my 1st 2 winters I had them in our plant room, same temp as house. They lost all their leaves but survived. but I've not read of anyone else doing that.
mindy

My 12 year old brug (!!!!) has survived two winters by going in our semi-heated unfinished room. I would say the temps in there in winter are about 45-55 depending on the day. I place the brug near a window where it gets winter sun. I water rarely and the leaves pretty much all fall off. Then towards spring I water more and et viola new leaves! I was wondering if I should put it in the dark (kind of like a poinsettia) but I've had success with this method, so why tinker? I received the brug in one of Annie's swaps, and she told it me it was ten years old at the time. The flowers are a lovely light peach color. I'll post a photo.

That's really nice, Debra! A great color.

Thanks guys for this thread. I've decided to winter over my brugs in my unheated garage. Brugs are tropical and don't naturally go dormant, but you can force dormancy with cool temps and darkness. As Mindy did I cut back to just above the first Y shaped branches. That should allow it to flower sooner next year. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Steve

Oh, the Brug my Mom bought this Spring just bloomed inside. Not sure if that is good for it...shouldn't it be going to sleep?

I actually bought 2 daturas this past summer. After spending the past month on my 3 season porch, today I decided they will reside in the basement bulkhead for the winter. I just trimmed them a bit, gave them a good watering, and into the bulkhead they went. Since we hardly ever use the bulkhead, I also made a big sign DATURA IN BULKHEAD that I just taped to the bulkhead door. Lest I find the things shriveled and decayed five years from now.

How cold would be too cold for a dormant brugmansia? I have an unheated detached garage that will probably go down to the teens. Any info?

Pixie_lou - check how warm your bulkhead gets - I tried overwintering some things in mine once, and it was clear - after about 2 days - that it would be a disaster.

Mine is steel (painted light gray) and faces west; it gets really hot on sunny afternoons. Maybe yours faces north, which would probably be a lot better.

Sorry Bill. Can't help you.

Dee - valid point on the bulkhead. Thank for mentioning. Mine is also on the West side, though a little more northwest than true west. And the bulkhead is north of the deck. I hadn't thought about the space heating up. I just went to the basement and felt the bulkhead door. It feels cold. Though it's only 11 am and the afternoon sun hasn't hit yet. But at this point what is done is done. The daturas are there. And they shall remain there until March. If they survive great. If not, I'll buy new ones. When I originally bought them, I had no idea you could overwinter them. I look at their survival as a bonus!