Will Brugmansia bloom in shade?

[SubTropicRay]

Can I expect blooms from a Brugmansia planted in shade?

Thanks in advance,

Ray

[aussiearoids]

You sure can .

[junglegalfla]

I had mine in shade. They did fine. Mine turned into little monsters though and quickly turned into trees that I had to keep pruning. When I dug them out, the roots were as thick as my arm. Fair warning, they love our climate!

[SubTropicRay]

I just planted a yellow one in partial shade but the orange one will be under an oak.

[popper1]

There is one I see that is under a large oak that has large flushes of flowers every six weeks or so. Probably gets an hour or two of sun early in the day

[BigFrond]

Yes it will bloom. Mine bloom all year long and is kind of annoying with the constant flowers dropping. I chopped down one mine that was about 4 inches across. The yellow variety smells better than the white one. Both will need constant pruning. The yellow variety will tend to branch more, thus requires more pruning.

[SubTropicRay]

Thanks very much for all the input. In pots, they struggle terribly whether in shade or sun. It's liberation time.

[Austinpalm]

I have a white brugmansia planted in the shade of a live oak here in Austin. It usually flowers just before Christmas and stops with the first hard freeze. This past winter it sustained only minimal damage from our warm winter and did not die back. It began flowering with the start of spring and quit after about a month. It has not flowered since. I have seen brugmansia in San Antonio with incredible flowers during all but the coldest parts of the winter. The plant is only 3 years old and has formed a 5-foot tall/wide bush. Does this plant need to be more established before flowering more often or do I need to do something different? I water at least once a week and fertilize twice while still throwing coffee grounds out about 4 times a year. Thanks!

[popper1]

Brugmansia like lots of fertilizer. An actively growing plant can be fertilized every week, even twice a week. Slow release fertilizer do not fertilize fast enough for them, use a water soluble type. MgSO4 once a month can be beneficial too.

[SubTropicRay]

From what I'm hearing, I may not want optimal growth LOL. I think I'll stick to the slow relaease stuff for more controlled growth.

[Sandy Loam]

 

This thread has got me thinking that perhaps I should plant one in deep shade instead of a sunny location. Won't it bloom better in full sun? This thread seems to suggest that Brugmansia are shade-bloomers.

Another consideration is that the growth rate might be slower in deep shade, isn't it? I am considering planting one that I can chop down to a 4 foot/1 metre stump in late January after the blooms have fallen.  Yet I am afraid that it won't spring back to tree size if it isn't planted in sun.

Help! I have no experience with Brugmansias.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

They'll take sun.. We have a sizable one at the nursery i work at in sun. Blooms like crazy but it always looks "tired"  and somewhat burnt after the summer. Filtered shade, especially in the afternoon keeps them looking better. Biggest ones / specimens with tons of flowers i have seen here in Bradenton are planted in just such a position. Think they grow faster as well. On the other hand, deep shade might result in slow or scraggly growth ( reaching for sunlight).  A larger specimen should be able to push new growth easier than a small one. Not sure id take a 10-12' sized specimen down to 4' though. Might be too much stress on the plant, imo. Regardless, cuttings root EASY. so, if you did indeed cut too much and loose your "mother" specimen, you'll have replacements.

[Pip]

This thread needs some pics. In my climate Brugmansia like some sun but do best with some shade too particularly during extreme heat waves with low humidity. My brugmansia have been a little light on with flowers this year due to strong wind coinciding with each flush of blooms. 

My favorite cultivar in my garden is "Red Hot Pink" it enjoys full morning sun and afternoon shade. The branches that grow into deep shade seem to lose vigor and slowly die back. The flowers begin white changing to pink as they age turn a red orange colour before droping to the ground.

I also have a double white that gets a bit too much sun also causing branches to die back. Luckily the plant can replace lost branches very rapidly when weather conditions are mkre to its liking.

I have a third cultivar that is yellow but it is growing in almost full shade and doesn't look to fantastic. I'll most probably move it during winter.