Some say the name comes from the trumpet shaped flowers. I’ve also heard that the leaves are highly toxic and if you ingest it you’ll hear the angel’s trumpets calling for you. The leaves when dried and smoked are also an extremely strong hallucingenic, don’t smoke them. Despite the toxicity the plant is used as a medicine in the Sibundoy Valley of Columbia. It is also used in witchcraft by the men of the local tribes.
This will grow as a shrub but can be coaxed into a tree form by the usual pruning of lower branches. If you protect the trunk in cooler months ( insulated pipe wrap works very well ) it will grow faster and develop a tree form quicker. In time it can reach 20′ in height.
Grow this plant in full sun to filtered shade.
The flowers come in white, pink, red, yellow or orange.
Do not cut this plant to make it bushy, it will do so on its own. When the limb branches, flowers will form there.
The base of this plant gets scraggly looking with time. You’ll either want to prune it to tree shape or plant something in front of it to cover the bottom.
This plant is easily propagated from cuttings. To propagate you cut off a limb, cut it into 2′ chunks and stick the sticks in the ground. One person told me she had done that. Two years later they reach the second floor of her home. So this is a be sure you love it before you plant it plant.
These plants are native to the high Andes where they grow as a scrub brush. The high trade in brugmansia has made it endangered there.
To form this into a tree, trim lower branches and protect the main stem in the colder weather with pipe insulation. It can form a 20′ tree.
For more information:
Brugmansia Growers
American Brugmansia & Datura Society
Brugmansia Forum - Garden Web
1 response so far ↓
1 admin // Jan 7, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Last week we had a few nights down into the high 20’s F. Some of the newer leaves have curled up and some of the older ones turned yellow but it is mostly weathering the cold weather fine.
You must log in to post a comment.