Annuals & Biennials

Nicotiana
tobacco

- Height 10-60 in (25-150 cm)
- Planting distance 9-12 in (23-30 cm)
- Flowers early summer to early fall
- Rich, well-drained soil
- Sunny site
- Half-hardy annual

Flowering tobacco plants have long been valued for the heady evening scent of their blooms. Species and cultivars grown in the past mainly flowered in the evening, but modern breeding programs have resulted in hybrids and cultivars with flowers that open during daylight hours. The plants have rosettes of pale green leaves at the base, from which rise elegant branching stems. The star-shaped blooms are borne in cluster throughout the summer and come in a mixture of white, soft pink, lavender-pink, deep red, and lime-green. With their long season of bloom, flowering tobacco plants are ideal for group planting in borders and summer beds; the dwarf types will do well in pots and containers.

Popular species and cultivars
Most hybrids and cultivars are developed from Nicotiana alata.
'Domino Hybrids' are compact plants just 1 ft (30 cm) high, carrying flowers in red, pink, mauve, lilac, lime, and white.
'Dwarf White Bedder' bears large white blossoms that remain open throughout the day on 16 in (40 cm) tall plants.
'Lime Green' has greenish-yellow flowers and reaches 21/2 ft (75 cm) high.
'Merlin Hybrids' are a dwarf mixture, up to 9 in (23 cm) high, with blooms in crimson, white, lime-green, and bicolored purple.
'Nicki Hybrids' have strongly fragrant flowers in a mixture of colors - pink, white, red, mauve, maroon, and lime-green. They reach 1 ft (30 cm).
'Sensation Hybrids' bear flowers in a wide range of colors - white, pink, red, and mauve. They reach 21/2 ft (75 cm) high.

Annuals
and
Biennials