- This topic has 4 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 10 Oct 2020 at 6:17 am by
Alvin.
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rudy625
El Dorado lives up to its’ name in every way. First, it is an Aurea hybrid, Aurea litterly translates into ‘yellow or gold’ (I think), and it is certainly that.
El Dorado was the legendary ‘lost city of gold’ that the early Spanish explorers searched for in vain. I think that JT Sessions of Country Gardens fame has done a fantastic job in bringing this to us.
Here in zone 6, it stays at a medium size, branches well, and keeps the flowers at a height that you can enjoy its’ scent without standing on you toes. The color is interesting, as there can be 3 different shades of yellow/gold on each flower. The flower is very strong, and stays open rather well in full sun here in zone 6. The fragrance is what sets this one apart from the rest. The famous ‘Aurea’ scent, very strong, and with a hint of lemon, and something else that I can’t put my finger on, but, its’ all good. This is one that should be in every collection.
Another great point is that it is one of the most pest/disease resistant brugs in my collection.
El D sets pods with ease, and is also a very prolific pollen parent. I find that it requires very little extra care, if any at all, but, it will reward you with frequent heavy flushes, and a scent that I can only describe as ‘intoxicating’.
Here it is hanging out with his buddy, ArcAngel
As with most things in life, there is no such thing as ‘perfect’ or a ‘sure thing’, and, it seems that this beauty is not without a flaw. Seems that it is one of those that is harder to propagate by cuttings. I myself had had a 50% survival rate with it. I have only tried to root 4, including my ‘mother’ plant. 2 rooted, and 2 didn’t make it, but, to be honest, I have had the same, if not less success rate with some of the other ‘mainstream’ brugs, so I can’t really judge, tho I lean toward it being classified as harder to root. One thing I can suggest is to keep it rather on the dry side while attempting to root. I will be attempting to root some cuttings using different methods, and will report back here on the results asap.
Dan
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WayneM
Love it Dan! As someone who has a few yellow Aureas and yellowish Aurea hybrids, this one looks very special and has that certain something that sets it apart.
Is she a early flusher?? and how long do the blooms last for on average??
Wayne
Instagram ilike2brugit
Alvin
I am old enough to remember when there were “Pink” brugs and “White” brugs. Very few were known by name and every brug-fancier was trying to find a better cultivar than the 20 or so that we had so far. We even had the audacity to think that we could abbreviate all their names with two letters ie EP= Ecuador Pink and RK = Rothkirk. We have a LOT MORE extant Cultivars now though!!
The Yellows always got my attention and one of the very first yellow to gain broad notoriety was JTSession’s El Dorado. El Dorado is a very B.aurea-influenced cultivar with almost Horizontal blossom presentation and a very typical “aurea” scent. He was kind enough to gift me a few El Dorado cuttings when I first met him at a BGI Round-Up in Forsythe Georgia. And I have kept that lineage alive up here at the 45th North parallel since then. I still love its readiness to bloom in large flushes with wonderful color, presentation, & fragrance, even on small plants.
Click here for more info: https://www.brugmansia.us/cultivar/el-dorado/
El Dorado has, however a major flaw that still needs to be worked out in my opinion. Its flowers have a habit of hanging on & going brown as they age instead of simply dropping off – making a rather unpleasant finish to a flush.
gone2seed
I had actually lost this one somewhere along the line. Thank you Al for sending it back to me. I now keep several just to be on the safe side.
Alvin
I’m so glad to be able to help!
Great to hear from you too!
I had a great show with a bunch of horizontal blooms all planted side-by side with Roberta Lynn [not established name] (White), El Dorado (Gold), and Cindy Ann (Pink). All have similar shapes, sizes, and attitudes, but different colors and the effect was stunning!
rudy625
gone2seed
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