Brugmansia, Angel Trumpet, Angel's Trumpet 'Charles Grimaldi'

This brugmansia is amazing looking and is amazingly hardy. I have mine planted in the ground here in zone 8b, and although it died to the...Read More ground without winter protection, by mid-April it has begun to send several new shoots up from the base of its trunk. This last winter it handled 10 degrees F without more than an inch or two of bark mulch. We also have very wet winters. Last year it started blooming by the first of June (and you could smell the blooms from 15 feet away), hopefully it will be on the same schedule this year. It got to be about 6 ft tall as well, looking like a small tree with several branches loaded down with huge 8 inch plus blooms. I can't believe DG lists this as only hardy down to 35 degrees. Take another 20 degrees off and that'll be closer to the truth.

This is the best brug out there. Don't bother with other varieties. This looks the best and smells the best. The smell enters our house o...Read Moren calm nights. It's amazing. .

For hot, dry areas (like Tucson), I've learned that brugmansias are more trouble than they're worth, including the "easy" Charles Grimald...Read Morei. Mine's in a 5-gallon pot on the back porch, northern exposure with filtered morning sun.

Got the plant in April of 2012 when it was only 4" high. It grew to 5' by September, but required ridiculous amounts of water and fertilizer, plus several pints of rubbing alcohol + frequent blasts of water from the hose (which tore up its leaves) to keep the spider mites under control. I could've sustained my entire front yard with the amount of water this one plant consumed! Plus, the plant blew over frequently because it became so top-heavy.

When it finally bloomed in Sept., the flowers were gorgeous but I was disappointed at their mild fragrance, which reminded me of Ivory Soap. Right after blooming, the plant quickly went dormant (even though temps were still in the 80's and 90's) and looked unattractive until March.

Then it took off again, but despite my best efforts, spider mites got the upper hand this year, and one by one it dropped its leaves and now it looks like a skeleton. So unless you have the means to provide a humid, jungle-like atmosphere in the desert, you're more than welcome to try this plant but don't be disappointed if it turns out to be not as easy-to-grow as reviewers from more suitable climates would have you believe.

I fell in love with brugs several years ago, and I've found that Charles Grimaldi is the best overall for looks, reliability and, of cour...Read Morese, fragrance.

I've overwintered them in the garage and in our house (I'm in zone 6/7), set them out next spring and they come right back. However, with three cats and a dog I have to keep the plants protected to make sure nobody eats the leaves.

On the other hand, brugs are so inexpensive that it might be worth it to simply grow them as annuals. If you order a plant in March or April and keep it indoors until after the last frost, you'll have gorgeous blooms by late June, and they'll keep going until first frost in the fall.

I just don't know why more people don't grow these stunning plants. Whether you put them in the ground or in a LARGE container, they are some of the most beautiful flowering shrubs available anywhere. And that fragrance!!!! Like a delicate vanilla-lemony soap, but one you can smell from 10 feet away on a mild summer night.

I know this comment is quite late GardenFairy, but I thought I'd answer anyway in case this happens to anyone else's pet. Yeah, I would b...Read Moree pretty positive that Brug or Datura leaves would be harmful to any animal. I know cats like to graze because mine graze my plants all the time. The thing is, cats are highly intelligent and they usually have a sense of which plants are okay to chew on and which are not. My kitties know what plants they can graze on and which they should not. Perhaps your kitty did make a mistake and chew a Brug leaf. In that case, I would get he or she to the vet immediately and have them do what they need to, to get the offending matter out of kitty. I'm sorry, that's a terrible thing to have happen. I hope kitty is okay now! So folks, if you see your pet, cat or dog, eating a Brug or Datura leaf, grab it out of their mouth as fast as possible and if they have eaten it, take them to the vet asap! Thanks.

Could someone tell me if they have ever had a cat eat any of the leaves and if so what was the outcome? I have a cat that is very sick a...Read Morend I'm not sure if he ate any part of my brug.
Thanks

I just got my first Brugmansia, Charles Grimaldi. Living in Gig Harbor Wa. I'm not sure if I should put it in the ground this late in the...Read More season, or in a pot and put it in the house for the winter. Thanks for any advice anyone can give me!

My plant looks healthy, then something - unseen - eats the leaves entirely. I have sprayed with Insect spray and Oil, to no avail.

This does well in a large pot in my cold-winter climate. I've had it for two years now and it just keeps getting bigger and blooming mor...Read Moree floriferously. It's the largest potted plant I have by this point. It also does much better in the dry-air indoor conditions of forced vent heat than most of my other overwintered-indoors plants.

I bought my Charles Grimaldi brug on eBay three years ago. The first year I kept it as a pot plant, but put it in a sheltered southern e...Read Morexposure the second year and it has "died" with the first frost, but for two springs has returned to reach the roof and to be covered with huge blooms that one of my friend's sons calls "jingle bells." After frost I cut it back and mulch it. It is a beauty!

There's a reason this plant is called *The Master*. It is one of the only brugs I have that will bloom when it is 110 F or more. It blo...Read Moreoms nicely in the winter under low light conditions as well. Great fragrance and cheery blooms greet you when nothing else is flowering. Been growing this one for about 6yrs now and it hasn't failed me.

One of the best!
Easy grower, awesome scent of flowers, profuse bloomer.
I had my first blooms of CG (@ 7 inch long flower...Read Mores) on a plant that was total 9 inches tall.!!!
Not finicky and hypersensitive
to changes, not a insect magnet like some brugs.
Love it!

Cut this back harshly and overwintered in a garage (unheated but gets waste heat from the house) in Zone 8b. Leafless when moved out in M...Read Moreay, it is now (Late June) leafing out beautifully. Intoxicating scent at dusk, so we have it by a door that is often open in the evenings. Gusts of scent fill the house!

The location we have for this plant gives it shade most of the day, with direct sun for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. I think it would prefer more sun, but it does well.

Had no luck with my cuttings as I started them too late in the fall. Will take cuttings in August this year and make sure they are well rooted before they go into the garage for the winter!

Superb Brugmansia for Coastal Calif. Unbeatable for fragrance. Easily shaped and kept under control. I head it back in winter to give ...Read Moreit a rest and it always responds. Only drawback is keeping fallen flowers cleaned up underneath it.
Does well in sun or shade.
I have a blue hydrangea growing underneath it and a bronze flax to the side. I like the color combination of these 3 together.

This plant is not hardy in my zone6b, but I grow it in pots and store it in our heated basement over the winter. It continues to bloom in...Read Moredoors (under flourescent lights) through the winter. It is a very handsome and tall brugmansia with flowers which open bright yellow and matures to a wonderful burnt orange. They are also very fragrant. Highly recommended.

Do not forget to fertilize frequently (weekly) using either 10-10-10 or 14-5-12 for example. In pots outdoors in sun during the summer they consume A LOT of water, so watch out. I need to water daily during July and August.

You can peruse through D.G's other 350+ entrys for Brugmansias,but this one is THE BEST. Easy to grow,very fast,richly colored,and more f...Read Moreragrant than any other two varietys combined.Propagation consists of sticking a cutting in the ground-that easy. A row of them is a powerfully fragrant summer night. But the neighbors dont complain-they like it. The ones in frost free areas bloom all year,heaviest of course in the warmer months (west coast). It is freely given away from gardener to gardener. A large one in full bloom will stop even non gardeners in their tracks,-it will not be ignored-ha.

This is a lovely plant and a strong grower with plenty of water. The blooms flush well and it seems as though its blooming all the time....Read More Very fragrant too. I love how the blooms turn different shades daily.

I'd like to share my experience with growing successfully a Charles Grimaldi (yellow-orange). I used a limb from a growing "tree?" type ...Read Moreand stuck it in a 5 gal. water can. One year ago. It is growing well. Will it be a vine, or shrub. How do I support it. Its in the direct sun. What extras do I need to give it ? Its about 4 ft. high.

This variety does very well in coastal South Carolina. It is a strong bloomer and in January of this year withstood 3 days of 15 degree (...Read MoreF.) weather. It is planted in moderately acid soil (pH 6.4) under moderate shade. The only problem noted to date is that of a leaf-eating insect (species unknown). Docturf

Blooms year round, most heavily 4 times a year. Blooms begin a pale yellow, deepening to a golden yellow, turning almost orange at the e...Read Morend of of its bloom cycle. Very fragrant. Very showy. Pinch growing tips to keep shrub compact and to encourage side branching (and more blooms!)

'Charles Grimaldi' was one of my very first brugmansias. Never to disappoint, it blooms often and well ..
to many times covered in...Read More hundreds of highly fragrant bells. CG is the most reliable to bloom brugmansia I grow.