CHARMING GARDEN ANGELS

When you see this shrub in bloom, it is easy to picture an angel reaching down, plucking the huge trumpet flower, and heralding another glorious day in the garden.

Are you looking for a spectacular blooming plant for wet shade or a shaded pot?  You will love the look of Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia insignis) a summer blooming shrub that likes a bit of shade.  It does need a good drink of water to keep it thriving.  If you grow impatiens, Angel Trumpet will enjoy the same conditions.

When I first went shopping for plants after moving here to South Carolina, a grower I met said he called the angel trumpet the Most Beautiful Flower in the World.  He could be right.

Its huge, pendulous flowers open in late afternoon, stay open all night, and close up come morning - perfect for the working gardener.  It has an exhilarating perfume.

Zones 7-8 are the coldest range it can survive outdoors.  Put down heavy mulch around its roots in these zones.  It will die back and re-grow from the roots.  In the colder climes below 7, bring it indoors, pot and all.

New plants are easy to come by.  Before the first frost, take cuttings, which can be as long as two feet, from the branches above where the shrub splits into a Y.  These cuttings will grow into blossoming plants quicker than cuttings taken from the straight trunk.  Only use the sturdy stalks that have a pebbly surface.  These bumps will become roots.

Winter the cut-off stalks in a bucket of water in the basement or garage; somewhere it won't freeze.  Be sure to mark which way is up.  Use a marker and put an arrow on the stalk as you cut it, so you know which end goes in the water.  If you put the top in the bucket, it won't grow.  This is a good way to carry over insurance plants in borderline or colder gardens.  If you have an uncommon deep freeze that kills your outdoor plants, you will have new ones coming along.  If you don't need them, friends and neighbors will love to give them a home.

The American Brugmansia and Datura Society, www.abads.net has a great page detailing how to grow these superb plants from seed:  www.abads.net/seed/

Would an Angel Trumpet called by any other name still smell as sweet? Datura metel, is also called Angel Trumpet.  It is a different plant in the same family with the same common name.  You can sometimes find it at garden centers in the annual section.  It is easily grown from seed every year.  It has sweet scented trumpets.  I just don't think it is as spectacular a flower as the Brugmansia.

All parts of Angel Trumpets are poisonous.  Don't let children or pets eat any samples of leaves, flowers, stems, or seeds.  Just wash your hands thoroughly after working with the plants.  These plants are in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) along with tomatoes, potatoes, and petunias.  Treat them with respect.

How do you tell the Angel Trumpets apart?  Brugmansia insignis trumpets hang down.  The trumpets on Datura metel usually face up or out and are smaller than the Brugmansia.  If you see a plant labeled Brugmansia, but it has purple flowers, it is a Datura.  There are no purple Brugmansias --yet.

There are gardeners who think it is a bother to use or know the Botanical name of plants.  These flowers illustrate why it is important to know the distinctions.  If you searched Garden Centers or online for Angel Trumpet seed, what would you get?  Use the botanical name, Brugmansia or Datura, and there would be no doubt, you would get what you want.

--Posted by Anne K Moore, June 4, 2007--