PlantFiles: Red Angel Trumpet, Red Angel's Trumpet, Eagle Tree
Brugmansia sanguinea

Coastal Otago, New Zealand.

I have to disagree with the zonal rating on this plant. It is a mountain species and grows here, in the ground and outdoors (medium zone 9) where we get snow, hail, and some frost plus quite a difference in day length throughout the year. Like a weed! Mine is already over a metre high and down the road there are some 3-4 metres square. Because of it's soft herbaceous structure it appreciates shelter from the worst of the wind etc, and ceases flowering for a short time through winter, but flowers madly for the rest of the year and requires absolutely zero care.

From what I can see, it's consistently high temps that are its major enemy in many places, causing it to abort flowering and decline. North of here it does not seem so widespread. I think we just have the medium temp range that it prefers, which is unbelievably fortunate as it is an almost surreally beautiful plant.

It's easy enough to start from suckers and layered branches, and I have also had success with cuttings laid horizontally and half-buried in soil on a windowsill. Not so much with the traditional vertical cutting approach. Im not sure if it sets seed here, lacking its native hummingbird pollinator, but the key to getting a start is horizontal cuttings and patience.

While we can also grow the yellow version of this species here, all the rest of the Dats and Brugs are pretty much hopeless cases, surviving with shelter but hardly ever flowering and getting cut down by winter.'

Ive blogged it here. The Blackthorn Orphans.com

I ordered this plant via a catalog which I received 15 plants in 1998. I planted 2 and gave the rest to my neighbors. I planted these on each side of my porch facing north. They grew and gave orange trumpet flowers galore and hummingbirds visited daily. I live in a desert environment and summer heat up to 120 degrees. It would go down to the ground in the winter and come back in the spring and grow over my porch by summer.

We moved in 2001 and I have not planted another creeper but intend to plant a red and yellow creeper in the next few weeks. I miss the beautiful color and want my hummingbirds to feed on the trumpet flowers along with their sugared water feeders.

I'm in Sonoma, CA Zone 9 and have had this plant in my gardens for almost 20 years. I have a potted specimen I drag under the patio to preserve in case of extreme weather and some in the ground. It's suffered die-backs from freezes and some issues with white fly/aphids (only where it's unhappy/struggling), and tends to wilt in full sun/heat but always comes back. I've had trouble getting bloom with the cold season hitting hard about the time the bloom cycle comes on. Here in the valley it's a question of finding a protected spot. Where I lived previously across the valley we enjoyed a milder micro-niche and a big tree that offered nice protection and filtered light and I used to get beautiful bloom there. Easy to propagate in my experience- just stuffed occasional trimmings where ever was convenient, in a pot or in the ground. They love to grow out the bottom of the pot and root if left too long in one spot.

I live in Piedmont North Carolina (Raleigh area) and have found this plant to be somewhat invasive but not uncontrollable. When I first found it growing naturally among my Verbena I dug out the 'main' plant and placed it in a 20-inch pot with trellis in my morning garden. It has responded by growing to about five-feet in height and filling out wonderfully with foliage, but only few orange-red flowers--although those few have attracted numerous visits from the resident hummingbirds and Monarchs. Not much success in propagating from seed or stem cuttings but have found it quite easy to grow from root sections. It dies back to the ground here after the first hard freeze, however the first few warm days of spring bring it back to life.

Everyone please note that the 1 negative post on this plant is from an individual that has little experience with it. I always hate when people post like that on here. "I bought this plant and it died so I give it a negative." One should have substantial growing experience before the post negatively. Just give it a neutral instead.

I HAVE SEVERAL ANGEL TRUMPETS GROWING HERE IN ZONE 7 NORTH CAROLINA UP AGAINST THE SOUTH FACING BRICK WALL OF MY HOUSE THAT GETS ABOUT 4 HOURS OF SUN EACH DAY..THEY GROW TO ABOUT 8 FEET TALL AND BLOOM HEAVILY AND THE SMELL IN THE EVENING IS FANTASTIC..THEY DO DIE BACK IN THE WINTER LIKE A HIBISCUS PLANT, SO I CUT THEM BACK EACH SPRING AND THE HEAT OFF THE BRICK WALL KEEPS THE ROOTS FROM DYING IN THE WINTER WITH TEMPS DOWN TO THE 20'S THE LAST 2 YEARS WE HAVE SEEN TEMPS GO TO 9 DEGREES AND THEY COME BACK JUST AS STRONG AS THE YEAR BEFORE..WE GET TEMPS IN THE 90'S AND ABOVE WITH GOD AWFUL HUMIDITY AND IT DOES NOT BOTHER THE PLANTS AT ALL..JAPANESE BEETLES WILL CHEW ON THEM A BIT BUT NOT ENOUGH TO DAMAGE THEM...

I am happy to say I have sprouts coming up in a large pot of these beauties. It will get the morning sun on my patio step. Will see if I can keep it potted and shape. I potted some more seed for my sis in law. Hopefully, they will sprout before her annual visit. I will keep you posted, oh I potted them in regular potting soil. In a pot that waters from the bottom.

Grows in my yard in 9B... I believe it is too hot in summer for this plant. Looks fine during winter. Has not bloomed for me ever.

For me, this is probably the easiest Brug to grow. I have no idea why since it is usually listed as somewhat difficult to grow and propagate. Guess I must be doing something right because my sanguinea is huge and extremely healthy looking. I am located in Helena, Montana so obviously this cannot be grown outside in our climate except during the summer months and it does love going outside at that time. Maybe thats why it does so well. Our summers are pretty hot but it does cool down at night and it also usually rains every afternoon around 5 or 6 pm so the humidity can get fairly high too. The sanguinea seems to love this weather and will put on a real show. During the winter months, I simply keep it in a bright window and it does fine, although it kind of goes into hibernation until spring. To propagate this Brug, I just take a cutting and use some rooting hormone and stick it in the dirt usually with a bag over it for higher humidity. Seems to always work. A beautiful and very showy plant. You will get many comments when people see this growing in your yard or home. Hummingbirds and various nice insects such as plant pollinating moths enjoy this plant too. Have never had any problems with pests.

I love this plant, i live in a place just right for it to grow and flourish.. It has grown a few feet tall and is about 4 feet tall and about 4 feet wide, it was in a five gallon when i bought it last year.. Here we dont get hot summers, about 76 everyday, and in the winter, it really doesnt freeze, so this brug did great, it is in the ground, and is just growing and blooming like crazy!! In the winter it looks good, and i am very lucky that i am able to grow this brug here!!

I have one of these, poor thing has been in the ground for 2 yrs, practically no leaves, but it does get an occasional flower. I plan on potting it, moving it to partial shade or filtered sun and cutting it back. will keep you posted.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this plant growing "wild" in a ravine above the ocean at Fort Ross, California

There are five species of Brugmansia, and nine or more species of the closely-related and often-confused Datura. Brugs are woody perennials, often reaching six to eight feet in a growing season, and where hardy can mature to twenty feet or more. They bear long (eight to twenty or more inches) trumpet-shaped blooms, usually flaring at the end. Most all are highly fragrant. They flower in white, cream, yellow thru orange, and pink thru peach. They can be grown in-ground or potted, but cannot tolerate freezing. A light frost can damage leaves and buds; a hard frost can kill back to the ground. If the ground freezes, even the roots die. Some may be root-hardy if cut down and heavily mulched, but I have not succeeded with this here in Zone 7A, although some people in my area have. Some species, such as B. sanguinea, are heat-sensitive and cannot survive the Deep South summers, but do well in the North as potted plants. B. sanguinea is also rumored to be difficult to root from cuttings, and is usually grown from seeds. Other species and cultivars generally root easily, although some are more difficult than others.