What I would like to know is...............the huge brugs I have in the ground..........if I cut them back hard tonight yet and don't get a chance to get them dug up, will a temp tonight of 28 or so kill them? If I DO get them dug yet tonight, I know it will just be to toss them in the g'house with whatever soil is on the rootball and worry about potting them up tomorrow. I thought I read on a brug forum that they can take a temp in the high 20's and not kill them. I hope not, or it's gonna be digging by candlelight. It wouldn't be so bad but I have a 7 pm meeting tonight which is going to cut into my "plant time". Thank goodness it is a teleconference, so I can go back out and dig if I HAVE to. I'm hoping I can sneak by without a temp that low killing them.

Sorry to hear this I cut mine to the ground and it has got down to 20 in Fl. and holds it ice in the dishes out side i mulch heavy. You can drag them in like you said and handle it the next day. You have your work cut out for you either way.
if you should dig them next day potting them take 95% of leaves off pot with 50% pearlite so they don't sit soggy and you should be good

My main question is wanting to know if the cold will KILL them tonight if it gets to 28. I do not intend to mulch for one night. Or maybe it would be better if I did NOT prune them back, if they had some "insulation", if you will, even tho it is still part of the plant. Either way, I don't want or NEED the foliage, as I will cut back severely.

cover them with heavy blankets green shoots will break oh well but you are saving you main stalk

cover clear to the grown better if you water them good first

Not a sheet either think about it if it was you sheet would not keep you warm heavy blanket your welcome.

Frost blankets might work. Mine will keep the temp up to 8 degrees warmer than the outside temp.

The plants are in much more danger if it has become real cold real fast. If the temp has been gradually dropping they can withstand lower temps than a rapid decrease because they have slowly become accustomed to it.

28 is really pushing it especially if there is wind.. Really. From my understanding and research that will likely hurt or kill them unless they are protected some way.

It got to 31* this morning Frost on my car windows when i left for town was so dark i could not see my one & Only Brug but when i got home 9:45 am the blooms were Just as full as they have been all week . I have them up by my house & guess they had enough cover . So they do take allot of cold .

No frost last night so I will be ok..........I will dig them later today. Maybe not potted up yet, that might have to be on tomorrow's docket.

@AnnaZ - ??s

How cold did it get?
Was it windy?
No damage at all?

If so - great!

Our low tonight is sposed to be 38 - but from my experience my deck stays ~ 5 - 8 degrees warmer than our local weather station. But I really must get my 3 Brugs, Oleander and a bunch other stuff in REAL soon.

no frost on the brug its here by my house & pergula but it got down to 31* this morning I need to see if my brother will cover for me tonight & tomorrow night for its is going to be in the low 30's again .
No damage at all , No big wind that I know of byt there was heavy frost on my car windows.

Got down to 35 last night, so all was well. Today I got the hacksaw and chopped them back. I can see they won't get dug tonight either, but since there is MUCH less plant out there, I am going to cover them and dig tomorrow. That is, if the planets align correctly and give me the time to actually DO it. LOL

Off to find one more blanket or something to tuck around the last 3.

Glad to hear 35 rather than 28. We are supposed to get down to 38 tonight. My deck is several degrees above the weather station, so for now the Brugs and Oleander stay out another night. Supposed to get back to near 80 by Monday with lows in the 50s. Joy

I'm thinking the 28 is tonight. I covered what is left of them with some old blankets. They will be cozy. LOL

Anna - Do you root everything you chop off? And what is left of the bottom resprouts?

Oh, gads, no..............I toss most of it. The ones in the ground have trunks like small trees, hence having to cut back with a hacksaw. LOL

If you want some I can go fish some off the toss pile. Would be kind of a duke's mixture...........can't tell what's what now.

And the trunks resprout? In Wisconsin?
What am I missing?
WAIT! You dig them up and repot?
Must be some huge freaking pots.

I said in my first post I dig them up.

I root-prune severely.

Gotcha. When you get to my age you forget what was said earlier. :-)

And after doing this they grow, form Ys again and bloom next season? I am fairly ignorant - not stupid. Just started with Brugs last year and now have 3. I do have one that will have to be dealt with as it is over 6 feet tall. 15 blooms right now.
thanks

Depends on where the "Y" is............if it's up kind of high, I cut it off. So, yeah, then it has to "re-Y". But I don't want those particular ones so tall in the greenhouse. The ones in the photo above were probably only a couple feet tall when I put them outside. I'd say they did great.