PlantFiles: Devil's Trumpet
Datura wrightii

I saw this plant frequently, when I was in Arizona. This plant gets bushy when it is kept hydrated. There is usually a bloom coming on at all time, while previous blooms drop off to produce seed pods.

For being in the Datura genus, and as poisonous as it is; I think it is strange that one of it's common names is "sacred datura". Obviously because it's large beautiful white blooms.

Devil's Trumpet, Datura wrightii is native to Texas and other States.

I've seen this growing in the wild on the 'El Camino Del Diablo Trail' (Devils' Highway) that runs between Ajo and Wellton in Arizona in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Elevation 1600 ft.

I dont remember planting the seeds among my nasturiums and rose campions.. but i obviously did.. I just found out what the name of this plant is.. and Ive been in LOVE with it, since i have been watching it grow.
It grows well, with minimial care. It has just flowered for me, my walkway smells delightful!!
Ill be letting this flower go to seed, and next season will plant the seeds in a better place more suited to the plants growth.

Yes its a completely poisonous plant, and caution must be used around children and pets..

I started my Daturas easily from seed. The large white flowers open early evening and are perfect for a moonlight garden. The fragrance is very sweet and can fill a garden. I deadhead flowers throughout the blooming season to keep from getting too many seeds, then toward the end of the summer I allow a few blooms to develop into the large spiny seedpods. I have heard that Datura makes a good companion to pumpkins. I will be trying this relationship this summer.

I received one small Datura plant last year, now I have it growing everywhere! They are pretty, but very invasive, so much so, that I kill them regularly, still each morning I have more.
They sprout up between the planks of our deck, in the grass and in the crushed granite patio around our fountain (with black plastic under it!) Not to mention my flowerbeds...
I would never planted the first one, if I knew than, what I know now.It is such a big chore to deadhead them and pick the seed pods, so I just keep chopping them off and placing them in trash bags to dispose of them.
This plant was named to me " Angel Trumpet", but it is really "Devil's Trumpet" and believe me, it really lives up to its name!

A very common and beautiful wild plant in my area.

I truly love this plant, it is an annual here for me, but it reseeds and each year I get a few more, I transplant them to where I'd like them. This one has a lovely "halo" around the edges in a lavender to blue tone. It really stands out in the morning or late at night when it opens. On an overcast day they will stay open all day long.

These seeds like winter sowing, they start better if having that cold shock hit them, they seem to germinate much faster.

This is a low, sprawling plant that grows pretty much all over western San Diego county, CA, in gravelly areas along roads, etc.
Hardy enough for frosty areas. Known generally as Jimson Weed and Devil's Trumpet. Dangerous if ingested - very poisonous.

I have grown this plant for several years. It grows rapidly and large. After bloom, each branch divides in half to produce two more blooms and so on. My neigbor has hers in the center of her yard and it has an 8 foot spread about half-way through the season. Blooms open in late afternoon into evening and will stay open until they are wilted by the sun. Mine are in shade until about noon. Deadhead each day. Limp flowers look and smell bad. Seed pods form quickly without deadheading. Pods get about the size of a golf ball and have sharp spines. I cut my plant back to just a few inches every winter and it grows huge each summer. I have 22 open blooms tonight in early July. They are fragrant until pollinated over-night by a moth. Also known as Jimson Weed. Has medicinal uses but is NOT for internal use. Wash hands after handling the plant. I think it is gorgeous and fairly carefree. I grow spiderwort in the same space. Just as the spiderwort is starting to look too leggy, datura leaves cover the base and allow spiderwort flowers to peek over the tops. As spiderworts die, the blooms on datura start to produce. Tap root is very deep on datura, very hard to get rid of it once it is in.

This heirloom datura has been growing at my farm for many years. Flowers are lovely and fragrant at dusk through dawn and on cloudy days. Foliage is deep green with white veins and pretty. But perennials have grown here so long they have become woody. So every other year or so I replace. Also, if too many seeds fall and soil is fertile, the seedlings may tend to take over.