Annuals & Biennials

Datura
Datura
angel's trumpet

Height 2-3 ft (60-90 cm)
Planting distance 2-21/2 ft (60-75 cm)
Flowers midsummer to early fall
Ordinary soil
Sunny, sheltered site
Perennial grown as a tender annual

Angel's trumpet could be a misnomer, for these exotic plants are poisonous in all their parts and are best kept out of gardens where there are children. But in spite of this and their frost tenderness, they produce an impressive show of trumpet-shaped flowers with a strong fragrance, which is headiest in the evening. Daturas are technically shrubby perennials but are usually grown as tender annuals in mixed borders and beds. They are ideal as pot and container plants.

Popular species and cultivars
Datura metel grows 2 ft (60 cm) or more high. It forms a shrubby plant with red stems set with ovate dark green leaves. The flowers, 8 in (20 cm) long, are creamy white and held erect. 'Aurea' bears yellow flowers. Pink and purple cultivars also exist. Datura meteloides, a bushy plant, reaches a height of 3 ft (90 cm) and bears hairy gray leaves with a pungent aroma. The upright, white or pink-flushed flowers, 6 in (15 cm) long, are sweetly scented. The cultivar 'Evening Fragrance' has larger, more strongly scented flowers of pure white with picotee edges picked out in lavender.

Annuals
and
Biennials