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I just purchased this plant, and I have been searching for some time. I lucked up at a nursery that had a few in bloom in December. I am going to treat it like my Brugmansia, and feed it once a week with a liquid fertilizer. ALL parts of this plant are toxic, but some medications are taken from this variety of Datra. As long as you keep the plant out of your mouth, you will be fine. If you live near farm animals, do not let this plant grow in the pasture! Grown for it's unusual flowers, and "eggplant" colored stems. Makes quite a conversation plant. Beautiful in full bloom.
Thanks, James. I still have the plant in the picture, but it is not doing well outside in the cold nighttime temperatures. I still have a few seeds left which I will sow soon for next summer's flowers. These do like fertilizer during the growing season, but they are short-lived perennials which are often treated like annuals since they are so easily grown from seed.
Thank you for your reply Clare_CA. I found this plant in a department store's plant section. They had only one and I did not pay much for it, it looked horrible. The plant had 1 bloom and it looks like a black stem about 3 and a half feet tall, but it is now putting out new growth. When you mention the plant as short lived, how long do these plant live? Should I always have seeds sown and/or stems rooting to continualy have this variety? I have never grown Datra, and thought that it was much like Brugmansia. Also, how cold does your zone get?
Daturas are related to Brugmansias, but they don't live as long or get as tall. I'm told there are both annual Daturas and short-lived perennial Daturas, but that belief might depend upon which zone you live in. I believe the short-lived perennials are the ones with the tuberous roots, like Datura Wrightii and Datura Inoxia, which both have white flowers. These come back every year even when the plant freezes to the ground. The others, like Datura Stramonium and Datura Metel, may in fact be annuals; although, mine still seem to be persisting.
Short-lived means only a few years, probably two to three years and less than five years. Daturas are not the easiest plants to root from cuttings, unlike the related Brugmansia, but they do germinate readily from seed so, yes, I would recommend always saving some seeds for yourself and sowing them every year for a continuous supply of plants.
My zone gets down to about 35 and rarely gets to freezing. I think it is supposed to freeze here every ten years or so. It's generally been in the 40's at night, dipping down into the 30's in the early morning.
Clare, Thank-you for the information on Datra and Brugmansia! I have had a white Brugmansia for about 3 years. I ordered it from a plant magazine, and all I got was a very small stem that was rooting. Now that little stem is a medium sized shrub about 7 feet tall and 6 feet wide. It freezes sometimes in my zone 9b, and in one hard freeze my Brug. froze to the ground. It came back quickly the next Spring, and I have another bush in my front yard that has only grown about 3 feet high and wide, but blooms like crazy! Now I have this Datra with a black stem and a beautiful purple flower in a flower. The bloom was about to fall off, so I placed on a piece of newspaper to dry before searching for the seeds. It is good to hear that these plants live more than one season or one year! I am not sure but I think this plant is related to the eggplant and nightshade family. The stem is the color of eggplant and the berries of nightshade. Nightshade is common in my area, and it is considered a weed. Poisionous to animals and all who eat it, but strangely some medication are taken from Brugmansia and Datras! I have no desire to eat either plant, but I do look forward to Spring and see how this datra grows. It only has leaves on the very top, and it is supported by a stake, in the pot in which I bought it in. Since you mentioned Datra is not easily rooted by cuttings, I guess I was wrong when I thought this must be a long stem that is rooting, and was forced to bloom for sale. I fertilized it with a liquid fertilizer and in a few days new growth of green leaves appeared. I will keep this plant in the pot until Spring, so that I can bring it in when the weather gets too cold for it. Again, thank you for your wealth of information!
James,
Brugmansias grow very easily from cuttings. You should come on over to the Brugmansia forum and check out the colors and shapes that are being grown today. Everyone there is very generous with cuttings for postage, especially when they trim or have to cut theirs back for the winter. I'm just starting out myself with Brugmansias and have received many cuttings from generous traders. Also, I got a bunch of cuttings from ebay for around $10 plus shipping.
Where a cutting is taken from on the parent plant often determines the size of the new plant. For example, if a cutting was taken from the top flowering portion of the parent plant, the new plant will likely be a small shrub. If a cutting was taken from below the "Y" of the parent plant or from a start which came up from the roots, then the new plant will likely be a taller tree or shrub. If you are really interested in Brugmansias and Daturas, you should come on over to B.G.I. Here are some links:
When your Datura flower falls off, you will see a round ball where the flower was. That ball will grow bigger and bigger and have bumps. See the picture of the seedpod below. When the seedpod starts to turn brown or crack open slightly, then you can harvest the seedpod and scrape the seeds out and dry them for storage.
You are right that daturas are in the Nightshade family and are related to eggplant. This is a quote from ABADS: "The genus Brugmansia belongs to the nightshade, Solanaceae family which includes tomatoes, potatoes, tobacco, many kinds of peppers, eggplant, and also includes Datura, petunia, nicotiana, solanum, physalis (Chinese lantern) and other ornamentals." I'll also add that tomatillos, Iochroma, and Nicandra are also related as well as many other ornamentals.
It could be that your Datura was propagated by a cutting, but I've heard that Daturas are difficult to root, and since seeds germinate easily, propagation by seed is usually the preferred method. Variegated Daturas are usually propagated by tissue culture.
Your quite welcome for the information. Check out the Brugmansia forum when you get a chance!
Thank you, Clare and James for all the great info on Daturas and Brugmansias. I am in awe of both of these species and will grow Daturas from seed for the first time in spring. I will probably check out ebay from some cuttings. I have heard good things about that in the Brugs forum.
Clare, I also viewed your photo albums. Your gardens must be truly gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Angela. I'm glad you liked my garden albums! I rent the home where I live so a lot of my plants are in containers, but I put a lot into the landscape too. It's a very small yard, and so it's very crowded!
Hi Annabelle,
What Zone are you in? I believe that the Datura Metel (double/triple yellow and purple ones) are annuals and, as such, won't come back in the spring unless they have self-seeded. The Datura Inoxia var. Innoxia and Datura Inoxia var. Wrightii (large white flowers) will come back from the tuberous roots in the spring if frost has killed them back to the ground. By the way, you may want to consider turning your Caps Lock key off. All caps can be hard on the reader and is the equivalent to shouting in "computer speak." :o)
Thank you Clare_Ca I am new to this do you know were i cane get some seeds are cutting of the angle or devil trumpets i live in Texas in the country in zone 8
