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Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi'

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 course, 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 be 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 and 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 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 more 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 exposure 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 blooms 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 flowers) 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 May, 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 it 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 indoors (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 fragrant 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.

C G remains as one of my all time favorite Brugs.
This brugmansia is a strong active grower, has always provided me with multiple flushes of blooms. The evening fragrance has attracted many Hummer moths as well as Humans. C G truely is a show stopper and for the first time Brug grower this one is a must!

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. 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 and 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 (F.) 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 end 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 hundreds of highly fragrant bells. CG is the most reliable to bloom brugmansia I grow.