Gardening in the Valley of Heart's Delight

Angel Trumpets


	The official name for Angel Trumpets is brugmansia (formerly datura). But you can see how they've earned their common name. The huge trumpets give off a delicious, strong perfume at night that fades during the day. Each flower only lasts a couple days, but there are always more. In a frost-free climate, they grow like small trees. Last winter here in San Jose, mine died back when we had some frosts but resprouted quickly from the roots.
This particular plant has lovely, ruffly doubling inside the trumpet, although more typically they are single, like a lily trumpet. My friend Jane, from whom I got the cutting to start this plant, says that the doubling isn't entirely genetic but is due in part to a virus, which appears to be otherwise harmless. Don't you wish that all viruses were so agreeable?
Brugmansias are very easy to sprout from cuttings. My cutting even had a bloom on it nearly as big as it was, while still in a pot! Perhaps they could be grown as house plants, or at least the cuttings nurtured over the winter in less hospitable climates.